Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 3 springs - Easily did 12+ reps
Overhand Vertical Pullapart (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - 2 springs - Did almost 20 reps
Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 sets - 3 springs
Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set, followed by mechanial drop set of Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 springs
Horizontal Pullapart (1 spring less, no following drop set) - 1 set - Damn, forgot again to do this one.
Back Press - 2 sets - 4 springs
Sideway (Tricep) Extension - 1 set - 3 springs
Sideway (Tricep) Extension (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - 2 springs
Overhead Tricep Extension - 1 set - 2 springs
Reverse Curl - 2 sets - 2 springs - Easily did 12+ reps both sets
Bicep Curl - 1 set - 2 springs
Bicep Curl (1 spring less) - 1 set - 1 spring
Deltoid Raise (scapular plane/Y raise) - 2 sets - 1 spring - Easily did 12+ reps both sets
I reversed the order of the Bicep Curl and Reverse Curl. Due to the current condition of my forearms/elbows it is unlikely I'll be able to practice the Bicep Curl for muscle and strength gains during this current training block. The best I can do is train the regular curl as an overspeed eccentric exercise - as fast as possible, and as many reps as possible, with a resistance level low enough to allow pain-free high reps. Upon further reflection, I'll move the Bicep Curl all the way to the end of the workout, working with only 1 spring, and aim for 50 reps per set before moving up to 2 springs.
Pushing to failure on both sets of Overhand Vertical Pullapart affected performance on the other pullapart exercises but not as much as I thought. I felt my delts got a good amount of work, but I still had enough energy to do both sets of Delt Raise easily.
I'm realizing that chest expander exercises need to be done as explosively as possible. This should emphasize the Type 2 muscle fibers. Louis Simmons and the Westside Barbell folks believed overspeed eccentrics would caused tendons to grow and become more resilient to injury, but there doesn't seem to be any recent research that backs this up. Recent research does back up the notion of slow eccentrics for recovery from tendonopathy. OTOH again, Simmons stated that Westside experimented with slow eccentrics vs. overspeed eccentrics and found overspeed eccentrics superior for their strength and hypertrophy goals. So, I'll just try the overspeed approach for at least a month and see how my aching forearms/elbows feel then.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Today's Chest Expander Workout
Yesterday, I went a little overboard playing with shoulder dislocates with a light resistance band and with a stick. As a result, my left shoulder felt sore and unstable. Also, both my forearmms/elbows have persistent soreness from weeks of holding a 24kg kettlebell in bottoms up position for goblet squats and working with the 24kg KB in general. I think the 2 weeks of passive hangs 3-5 times a day, 5 days a week also affected my forearms/elbows. The conditions of the shoulder and the elbows made me reconsider doing 6x6 on the IsoMax for my next training block. I decided instead to train on my Baraban chest expander for 6-8 weeks. I think my connective tissues will feel better with the eccentric loading offered by the expander. Also, because I was unable to press the 24kg KB, I don't think my delts got enough stimulus for size and strength gains in this latest Easy Muscle block. The chest expander routine is sure to work the delts much more thoroughly.
I thought I'd test my overhead press on the IsoMax. The high intensity reps on the IsoMax should relieve some of the soreness. I also decided to test reverse drag curl as well just for fun.
Overhead Press: 101, 118, 115.8
Reverse Drag Curl: 79, 110.2, 101.4
The overhead press numbers were down compared to the end of my last 6x6 training block when I was pressing in the high 120 to low 130 range. I think this is just exercise specificity at work. To get my pressing force back into the high 120lb range, I have to practice generating isometric force. In any case, my shoulder felt better after the IsoMax tests. Now on to the chest expander workout itself:
Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 3 springs
Overhand Vertical Pullapart (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - 3 springs (oops, forgot to remove a spring)
Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 sets - 3 springs
Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set, followed by mechanial drop set of Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 springs
Horizontal Pullapart (1 spring less, no following drop set) - 1 set - oops, skipped this.
Back Press - 2 sets - 4 springs.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension - 1 set - 2 springs, which felt so easy that I'll try 3 next time.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - oops, skipped this
Overhead Tricep Extension - 1 set - 2 springs
Bicep Curl - 1 set - Tried 3 springs, but was too painful for forearm/elbow, so removed a spring and did about 20 reps
Bicep Curl (1 spring less) - 1 set - oops, skipped.
Reverse Curl - 2 sets - 2 springs
Deltoid Raise (scapular plane/Y raise) - 2 sets - Totally forgot to do this.
So, kind of a sloppy chest expander workout, albeit the first one in months. Despite the mental miscues, there was definitely carryover from the preceding training blocks: the 8-week Easy Muscle block, the 6 week 6x6 block before that, and so on. The Overhead Vertical Pullapart, Sideway Extension, and Reverse Curl in particular felt noticeably easier to execute compared to my last chest expander workout. The improved performance in those exercises seem to correlate with improved performance in pullups, dips, and 24kg kettlebell clean + push press via Easy Muscle training.
I suppose it would be natural to wonder why not just stick to Easy Muscle, instead of messing around with the chest expander. The main reason is that all 3 Easy Muscle schedules are 8 weeks long and I lack the expertise to tweak any of the schedules to, say, an 12 week, 16 week or whatever schedule longer than 8 weeks; in such a way that the schedule produces desirable results in muscle mass and strength. If I create a 16-week schedule derived from Easy Muscle but it doesn't produce results at Week 16 that are measurably superior to results at Week 8, it would be a waste of time and effort. Simply repeating the last 2 week of Schedule B is not going to work because of the Law of Adaptation as documented by Vladimir Zatiorsky. The body will eventually adapt to the training stimulii - and thus no longer progress in strength, muscle mass, or whatever fitness goal is desired - unless sufficient changes are made after a certain amount of time.
I thought I'd test my overhead press on the IsoMax. The high intensity reps on the IsoMax should relieve some of the soreness. I also decided to test reverse drag curl as well just for fun.
Overhead Press: 101, 118, 115.8
Reverse Drag Curl: 79, 110.2, 101.4
The overhead press numbers were down compared to the end of my last 6x6 training block when I was pressing in the high 120 to low 130 range. I think this is just exercise specificity at work. To get my pressing force back into the high 120lb range, I have to practice generating isometric force. In any case, my shoulder felt better after the IsoMax tests. Now on to the chest expander workout itself:
Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 3 springs
Overhand Vertical Pullapart (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - 3 springs (oops, forgot to remove a spring)
Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 sets - 3 springs
Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set, followed by mechanial drop set of Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 springs
Horizontal Pullapart (1 spring less, no following drop set) - 1 set - oops, skipped this.
Back Press - 2 sets - 4 springs.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension - 1 set - 2 springs, which felt so easy that I'll try 3 next time.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set - oops, skipped this
Overhead Tricep Extension - 1 set - 2 springs
Bicep Curl - 1 set - Tried 3 springs, but was too painful for forearm/elbow, so removed a spring and did about 20 reps
Bicep Curl (1 spring less) - 1 set - oops, skipped.
Reverse Curl - 2 sets - 2 springs
Deltoid Raise (scapular plane/Y raise) - 2 sets - Totally forgot to do this.
So, kind of a sloppy chest expander workout, albeit the first one in months. Despite the mental miscues, there was definitely carryover from the preceding training blocks: the 8-week Easy Muscle block, the 6 week 6x6 block before that, and so on. The Overhead Vertical Pullapart, Sideway Extension, and Reverse Curl in particular felt noticeably easier to execute compared to my last chest expander workout. The improved performance in those exercises seem to correlate with improved performance in pullups, dips, and 24kg kettlebell clean + push press via Easy Muscle training.
I suppose it would be natural to wonder why not just stick to Easy Muscle, instead of messing around with the chest expander. The main reason is that all 3 Easy Muscle schedules are 8 weeks long and I lack the expertise to tweak any of the schedules to, say, an 12 week, 16 week or whatever schedule longer than 8 weeks; in such a way that the schedule produces desirable results in muscle mass and strength. If I create a 16-week schedule derived from Easy Muscle but it doesn't produce results at Week 16 that are measurably superior to results at Week 8, it would be a waste of time and effort. Simply repeating the last 2 week of Schedule B is not going to work because of the Law of Adaptation as documented by Vladimir Zatiorsky. The body will eventually adapt to the training stimulii - and thus no longer progress in strength, muscle mass, or whatever fitness goal is desired - unless sufficient changes are made after a certain amount of time.
Updated Chest Expander Routine and The Rollon
I watched Alex Leonidas' chest expander workout video yet again, to try to catch details I've missed before. Some things I'd missed include the backdown set of Sideway Extension and the 2nd Bicep Curl set being a backdown set (1 less spring).
Here is what I think is the corrected routine:
Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set
Overhand Vertical Pullapart (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set
Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 sets
Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set, followed by mechancial drop set of Underhand Vertical Pullapart
Horizontal Pullapart (1 spring less) - 1 set - All these pullapart exercises should stimulate strength and muscle gains in the upper back to improve shoulder stability, as well as stimulate some gains in the delts and triceps.
Back Press - 2 sets - improves behind the neck pressing mobility, as well as working the shoulders and triceps. Whether the mobility gain translates to improved mobility for double KB press, double KB jerk, etc. remains to be seen.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension - 1 set
Sideway (Tricep) Extension (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set
Overhead Tricep Extension - 1 set. Should be enough to finish off the triceps, which are probably feeling pumped by this point.
Bicep Curl - 1 set
Bicep Curl (1 spring less) - 1 set
Reverse Curl - 2 sets - All these curl variations are for stimulating strength and muscle gains for the biceps and forearms. There is no direct benefit for pressing but these exercises should help improve elbow health and performance in the kettlebell clean, as the biceps help control the descent of the KB out of the rack position into the bottom position.
Lateral Raise (scapular plane/Y raise) - 2 sets - Finish off delts which have been pre-exhausted by the earlier exercises, to stimulate muscle growth.
Alex Leonidas has another chest expander video in which he introduces the chest expander and has some advice on exercise programming, favorite exercises, etc. I didn't find any info on how often to do the routine, so I'll just do it 3 times a week.
Leonidas mentioned Fred Rollon - aka The Human Anatomy Chart - in his chest expander videos. Rollon was a bronze era bodybuilder who claimed to have developed his anatomy chart physique using only chest expanders and cables. He reportedly started lifting weights eventually... years after he developed that physique. Rollon reportedly trained with chest expanders with as much as 140kg (about 308lbs) of tensile strength. I am only one of several - or perhaps many? - satisfied owners of the Baraban Chest Expander, which comes with 7 springs, each of which has 10kg of tensile strength, for a maximum of 70kg. In the time I've owned mine, I've figured 70kg is more than enough for me. However, I just found out that Robert Baraban has started selling a new version of the steel string chest expander called The Rollon.
Now it is possible to work up to Fred Rollon's level of strand pulling strength and beyond. What is also interesting is Baraband is also making foot stirrup attachment for his chest expander models. With 2 chest expanders, 2 foot stirrups, and 2 or more of the "super springs" that come with The Rollon, it should be possible to do exercises that may require more than 70kg of tensile strength such as shrugs, deadlifts, and squats.
Here is what I think is the corrected routine:
Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set
Overhand Vertical Pullapart (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set
Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 2 sets
Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set, followed by mechancial drop set of Underhand Vertical Pullapart
Horizontal Pullapart (1 spring less) - 1 set - All these pullapart exercises should stimulate strength and muscle gains in the upper back to improve shoulder stability, as well as stimulate some gains in the delts and triceps.
Back Press - 2 sets - improves behind the neck pressing mobility, as well as working the shoulders and triceps. Whether the mobility gain translates to improved mobility for double KB press, double KB jerk, etc. remains to be seen.
Sideway (Tricep) Extension - 1 set
Sideway (Tricep) Extension (backdown set with one less spring) - 1 set
Overhead Tricep Extension - 1 set. Should be enough to finish off the triceps, which are probably feeling pumped by this point.
Bicep Curl - 1 set
Bicep Curl (1 spring less) - 1 set
Reverse Curl - 2 sets - All these curl variations are for stimulating strength and muscle gains for the biceps and forearms. There is no direct benefit for pressing but these exercises should help improve elbow health and performance in the kettlebell clean, as the biceps help control the descent of the KB out of the rack position into the bottom position.
Lateral Raise (scapular plane/Y raise) - 2 sets - Finish off delts which have been pre-exhausted by the earlier exercises, to stimulate muscle growth.
Alex Leonidas has another chest expander video in which he introduces the chest expander and has some advice on exercise programming, favorite exercises, etc. I didn't find any info on how often to do the routine, so I'll just do it 3 times a week.
Leonidas mentioned Fred Rollon - aka The Human Anatomy Chart - in his chest expander videos. Rollon was a bronze era bodybuilder who claimed to have developed his anatomy chart physique using only chest expanders and cables. He reportedly started lifting weights eventually... years after he developed that physique. Rollon reportedly trained with chest expanders with as much as 140kg (about 308lbs) of tensile strength. I am only one of several - or perhaps many? - satisfied owners of the Baraban Chest Expander, which comes with 7 springs, each of which has 10kg of tensile strength, for a maximum of 70kg. In the time I've owned mine, I've figured 70kg is more than enough for me. However, I just found out that Robert Baraban has started selling a new version of the steel string chest expander called The Rollon.
Now it is possible to work up to Fred Rollon's level of strand pulling strength and beyond. What is also interesting is Baraband is also making foot stirrup attachment for his chest expander models. With 2 chest expanders, 2 foot stirrups, and 2 or more of the "super springs" that come with The Rollon, it should be possible to do exercises that may require more than 70kg of tensile strength such as shrugs, deadlifts, and squats.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Easy Muscle Results
My pullup and dip repetition maxes at the start of the program were well short of the recommended number. The consequence was not being able to perform a set without having to pause to take a break, before resuming. This in turn led to not being able to do a desirable volume (reps x sets x load) for stimulating muscle mass gains.
I chose the 24kg KB Clean + Push Press option because I wanted to see what gains I would get with this option, combined with the 2 calisthenic exercises per Schedule B.
Tape measurement showed about 1/4" increase in arm circumference and 1/2" increase in chest/lat circumference. Perhaps the gains might have been greater if I had higher pullup and dip rep maxes at the start of the program. Despite that I'm satisfied with the hypertrophy.
I tried to press the 24kg KB but could not press it past the midpoint. Clean + Push Press works the triceps and traps more than the deltoids, because the use of the lower body to launch the KB upward eliminates the work that would have been done by the chest and delts. During this training block, I tried to actively "pull" the KB down on the eccentric to try to increase my KB pressing strength. However, one training block of this combination of C + PP and "active eccentric" was not enough. That said, this is another opportunity to try using 6x6 training on the IsoMax to increase my force output (strength) to a high enough level for a complete 24kg KB press.
I tested my double 16kg KB Clean + Press. I was able to do 8 reps. The 16kg KBs felt light in my hands after 8 weeks of training with the 24kg. Pressing double 16kg KBs took little effort for my upper body. My lower body fatigued more quickly than my upper body. I was able to lock out both arms on the double press, which I took as a sign of improved mobility compared to last year, when I couldn't lock out the arms. There is still room for mobility improvement in that I still have an arch in my upper back at the top of the press.
I could have, and probably should have, done this Easy Muscle training block on Schedule A with a single 16kg KB. I didn't have the mobility to work with double 16kg KBs. I think my rep max with a single 16kg KB would have been ideal per program guidelines. However I don't regret the choices I made for this training block, because I just had to satisfy my curiosity regarding training the 24kg KB C+PP. Also, I was itching to do pullups and dips again.
My next training block will focus on strength, with 6x6 on the IsoMax once again being the program of choice.
After that will be my next hypertrophy training block. What I will do for that training block will be determined by the results of re-testing my rep maxes with the single 24kg KB and double 16kg C+P:
I might do my next Easy Muscle training block on Schedule A with double 16kg KBs, unless my rep max turns out to be 15 or higher. I'm also going attempt to press the 24kg KB again, depending on how I progress in my 6x6 training block. If by the time I test for my next Easy Muscle block, I have a rep max of 12 on the double 16kg C+P and a rep max of 2 on the single 24kg C+P, I'd go with the double 16kg KBs. If however I have a rep max of 17 or something like that on the double 16kg C+Ps but I still can't press the 24kg C+P, I might go with Schedule B with the 24kg C+PP and calisthenics again again... we'll see.
I chose the 24kg KB Clean + Push Press option because I wanted to see what gains I would get with this option, combined with the 2 calisthenic exercises per Schedule B.
Tape measurement showed about 1/4" increase in arm circumference and 1/2" increase in chest/lat circumference. Perhaps the gains might have been greater if I had higher pullup and dip rep maxes at the start of the program. Despite that I'm satisfied with the hypertrophy.
I tried to press the 24kg KB but could not press it past the midpoint. Clean + Push Press works the triceps and traps more than the deltoids, because the use of the lower body to launch the KB upward eliminates the work that would have been done by the chest and delts. During this training block, I tried to actively "pull" the KB down on the eccentric to try to increase my KB pressing strength. However, one training block of this combination of C + PP and "active eccentric" was not enough. That said, this is another opportunity to try using 6x6 training on the IsoMax to increase my force output (strength) to a high enough level for a complete 24kg KB press.
I tested my double 16kg KB Clean + Press. I was able to do 8 reps. The 16kg KBs felt light in my hands after 8 weeks of training with the 24kg. Pressing double 16kg KBs took little effort for my upper body. My lower body fatigued more quickly than my upper body. I was able to lock out both arms on the double press, which I took as a sign of improved mobility compared to last year, when I couldn't lock out the arms. There is still room for mobility improvement in that I still have an arch in my upper back at the top of the press.
I could have, and probably should have, done this Easy Muscle training block on Schedule A with a single 16kg KB. I didn't have the mobility to work with double 16kg KBs. I think my rep max with a single 16kg KB would have been ideal per program guidelines. However I don't regret the choices I made for this training block, because I just had to satisfy my curiosity regarding training the 24kg KB C+PP. Also, I was itching to do pullups and dips again.
My next training block will focus on strength, with 6x6 on the IsoMax once again being the program of choice.
After that will be my next hypertrophy training block. What I will do for that training block will be determined by the results of re-testing my rep maxes with the single 24kg KB and double 16kg C+P:
- 24kg C+P 4-6 reps. Program: Easy Muscle Schedule B with single 24kg KB
- 24kg C+P 0-3 reps and double 16kg C+P 8-12 reps. Program: Easy Muscle Schedule A with double 16kg KBs.
- 24kg C+P 0-3 reps and double 16kg C+P 13+ reps. Program: Chest Expander routine. In this case, I'm not strong enough for option 1 and too strong for option 2, so I think it might be fun to devote a 6-8 week training block to chest expander training and see what strength and muscle gains might be had from it.
I might do my next Easy Muscle training block on Schedule A with double 16kg KBs, unless my rep max turns out to be 15 or higher. I'm also going attempt to press the 24kg KB again, depending on how I progress in my 6x6 training block. If by the time I test for my next Easy Muscle block, I have a rep max of 12 on the double 16kg C+P and a rep max of 2 on the single 24kg C+P, I'd go with the double 16kg KBs. If however I have a rep max of 17 or something like that on the double 16kg C+Ps but I still can't press the 24kg C+P, I might go with Schedule B with the 24kg C+PP and calisthenics again again... we'll see.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 8
For the final kettlebell session, I held the kettlebell in the normal goblet squat grip, for the goblet squats, because my forearms were feeling beat up from the combined work of holding the KB in the bottoms up position, the calisthenics work, and hanging for time.
I managed to do 35 total reps of pullups and dips for the Monday calisthenics session. For the Friday session, I managed to do 40 total.
I got quite a spike in appetite after my calisthenics sessions. I presume it's because the workouts stimulated muscle growth.
I'll give my body a few days to recover, then evaluate the following:
I managed to do 35 total reps of pullups and dips for the Monday calisthenics session. For the Friday session, I managed to do 40 total.
I got quite a spike in appetite after my calisthenics sessions. I presume it's because the workouts stimulated muscle growth.
I'll give my body a few days to recover, then evaluate the following:
- 24kg KB press repetition max
- Double 16kg KB overhead press mobility
- Arm width
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Current Mobility Training
I've been starting my workouts with a mobility warmup, starting with a warmup of the legs and hips. For my hip/leg warmup I've been doing most of the exercises from the GMB Muay Thai mobility routine. They make my hips feel good.
I occasionally change up my hip/leg warmup by instead doing prying goblet squat for 5 reps, then cossack squat until my legs/glutes start to feel a little burn - with the 8kg kettlebell held bottoms up.
I then move on to kettlebell arm bar and bent arm bar for t-spine mobility and loosening up the chest and front of the shoulders. T-spine mobilization seems to loosen up my lats despite not directly stretching the lats all that much. This article by Jon Engum lists 4 items on which to focus for the kettlebell arm bar, with the 4th item being the arm on the ground, which is supposed to be moved to your rear as much as possible and stretch the lat.
One of the latest mobility exercises I've added to my routine is the kettlebell pullover, which is supposed to help improve mobility for overhead lockout. There are straight leg and hip bridge variations taught in this video:
Doing the hip bridge variation first for about 3-5 reps seems to increase ROM (Range Of Motion) for the straight leg variation.
I did passive hangs in the past, but gave up on them because I thought of hanging as a lat stretch and found the quadraped side bend to be more productive for getting the lats to loosen up. This FitnessFAQs video inspired me to try hanging again. I don't agree that total hanging time per day should be 5 minutes, as that looks like an arbitrary number rather than a number backed up by research. However I do agree that the 2 sets of 20-30 second holds I was doing 3x a week might not have been enough to improve grip strength or lat mobility. 2 weeks of hanging 5 days a week, 3 or more sets per day resulted in my left elbow being less susceptible to tendonitis pain from playing guitar. However this week I'm taking a break from passive hangs because of accumulated soreness in my forearms - which might be caused by hanging combined with bottoms-up goblet squats and other work with the 24kg kettlebell.
My hamstrings are not particularly flexible. I've tried various stretches and other mobility exercises in the past with some improvement, but have admittedly not focused much on improving hamstring flexibility, other than the Muay Thai routine above. One of the exercises that I attempted was pike compression - aka "pike pulses" - which were just too hard for me. In the below video, Eugene Teo shows easier pike pulse variations, and how to progress in difficulty. I've been doing 3 sets of pike pulses on my recovery days, as well as after my Easy Muscle calisthenics days.
I occasionally change up my hip/leg warmup by instead doing prying goblet squat for 5 reps, then cossack squat until my legs/glutes start to feel a little burn - with the 8kg kettlebell held bottoms up.
I then move on to kettlebell arm bar and bent arm bar for t-spine mobility and loosening up the chest and front of the shoulders. T-spine mobilization seems to loosen up my lats despite not directly stretching the lats all that much. This article by Jon Engum lists 4 items on which to focus for the kettlebell arm bar, with the 4th item being the arm on the ground, which is supposed to be moved to your rear as much as possible and stretch the lat.
One of the latest mobility exercises I've added to my routine is the kettlebell pullover, which is supposed to help improve mobility for overhead lockout. There are straight leg and hip bridge variations taught in this video:
Doing the hip bridge variation first for about 3-5 reps seems to increase ROM (Range Of Motion) for the straight leg variation.
I did passive hangs in the past, but gave up on them because I thought of hanging as a lat stretch and found the quadraped side bend to be more productive for getting the lats to loosen up. This FitnessFAQs video inspired me to try hanging again. I don't agree that total hanging time per day should be 5 minutes, as that looks like an arbitrary number rather than a number backed up by research. However I do agree that the 2 sets of 20-30 second holds I was doing 3x a week might not have been enough to improve grip strength or lat mobility. 2 weeks of hanging 5 days a week, 3 or more sets per day resulted in my left elbow being less susceptible to tendonitis pain from playing guitar. However this week I'm taking a break from passive hangs because of accumulated soreness in my forearms - which might be caused by hanging combined with bottoms-up goblet squats and other work with the 24kg kettlebell.
My hamstrings are not particularly flexible. I've tried various stretches and other mobility exercises in the past with some improvement, but have admittedly not focused much on improving hamstring flexibility, other than the Muay Thai routine above. One of the exercises that I attempted was pike compression - aka "pike pulses" - which were just too hard for me. In the below video, Eugene Teo shows easier pike pulse variations, and how to progress in difficulty. I've been doing 3 sets of pike pulses on my recovery days, as well as after my Easy Muscle calisthenics days.
Monday, July 15, 2024
Saturday, July 06, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 6
The Monday calisthenics session prescribed a number of reps per set that was pretty much my rep max in both movements at the start of this Easy Msucle training block. I managed to do 3 sets of each exercise. While doing the 4th set of pullups, I had to stop 2 reps short, rest for a bit, then do the final 2 reps. I also had to pause while doing the 4th set of dips. After the calisthenics session, I once again did a mini circuit of hand-elevated tuck planche and ring-assisted pistol squats. Hand-elevated tuck planche is shown here by Simonster:
Simonster's video inspired me to try the hand-elevated tuck planche and assess where I am in the progression towards the tuck planche. I can get my knees level with my hands. However, I decided to play it safe with my shoulders and stop practicing it. My shoulders have not manifested ill effects from doing it so far, but I will wait until I've gotten strong enough to press the 32kg kettlebell overhead before thinking about trying it again.
The Wednesday kettlebell session went fine. The 24kg kettlebell began to feel lighter as the session went on, which was interesting.
The Friday calisthenics session prescribed a lower number of reps, so I was able to do more sets, and thus a higher total number of reps, compared to the Monday session. I managed to do 7 sets.
Simonster's video inspired me to try the hand-elevated tuck planche and assess where I am in the progression towards the tuck planche. I can get my knees level with my hands. However, I decided to play it safe with my shoulders and stop practicing it. My shoulders have not manifested ill effects from doing it so far, but I will wait until I've gotten strong enough to press the 32kg kettlebell overhead before thinking about trying it again.
The Wednesday kettlebell session went fine. The 24kg kettlebell began to feel lighter as the session went on, which was interesting.
The Friday calisthenics session prescribed a lower number of reps, so I was able to do more sets, and thus a higher total number of reps, compared to the Monday session. I managed to do 7 sets.
Monday, July 01, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 5
The Monday kettlebell session went fine.
The calisthenics session also went fine. At the end of the session, I got into the top position of a dip on the rings, then attempted to get as close as possible to tuck planche by contracting my abs and pulling up my hips and knees, and held the position for as many seconds as I could. Simonster in this video advises to start working on tuck planche with hands elevated - as they would be at the top of a dip - instead of with the hands on the floor. That's where I got the idea. I then practiced ring-assisted pistol squats. My real leg workout in this Easy Muscle training block is the KB goblet squat, so in this case I only did a couple of reps per leg. I then did another little circuit of regressed tuck planche hold and assisted pistol squats.
The Friday kettlebell session was a bit more challenging than the Monday session, because I had to do 4 reps per set. Each 4-rep set in this session drained more of my energy compared to the Monday session. I managed 3 sets in the prescribed time period. For the goblet squat portion of the workout I managed to complete all sets without letting the kettlebell flop over.
The calisthenics session also went fine. At the end of the session, I got into the top position of a dip on the rings, then attempted to get as close as possible to tuck planche by contracting my abs and pulling up my hips and knees, and held the position for as many seconds as I could. Simonster in this video advises to start working on tuck planche with hands elevated - as they would be at the top of a dip - instead of with the hands on the floor. That's where I got the idea. I then practiced ring-assisted pistol squats. My real leg workout in this Easy Muscle training block is the KB goblet squat, so in this case I only did a couple of reps per leg. I then did another little circuit of regressed tuck planche hold and assisted pistol squats.
The Friday kettlebell session was a bit more challenging than the Monday session, because I had to do 4 reps per set. Each 4-rep set in this session drained more of my energy compared to the Monday session. I managed 3 sets in the prescribed time period. For the goblet squat portion of the workout I managed to complete all sets without letting the kettlebell flop over.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 4
This week called for pushing oneself a little harder than normal. It basically amounts to taking shorter than usual breaks between sets.
The calisthenics workout scheduled for Monday presented a bit of a dilemma. 6 reps per set were prescribed. Last time I attempted 6 reps per set, I was able to complete all 6 reps for first couple of sets. For the remainder of that workout, I could not complete each set without taking breaks. But per the guidelines I had to push myself for this week. I think I found a reasonable balance in the Monday workout - not resting too long and at the same time doing the 6-rep sets without stopping during the set.
The clean-and-push press workout was relatively easier. I aimed to do at least 10 total reps per arm and I achieved that. I stopped counting reps after that as I wanted to focus on good quality execution during the prescribed workout time instead of chasing reps. I think I did 13 per arm. The squat workout mostly went fine, although my hands tired enough to allow the kettlebell to flop over on one of the later sets. One thing I changed was setting up my feet wider apart, about where the feet would be if I were doing a double kettlebell front squat. I haven't been squatting with the feet this far apart for a while. I figured I'll eventually progress back to double KB front squat so might as well ge used to the foot placement since double KBs require more space between the feet for the double KB clean to set up for the squat, and then the reverse clean to park the KBs on the floor.
The Friday calisthenics workout called for 4 reps a set. I pushed for as much volume as possible, and even raised the training time an extra 5 min. I was able to do 8 sets of pullups and dips. This should help prep me for doing more sets of 6-rep sets.
The calisthenics workout scheduled for Monday presented a bit of a dilemma. 6 reps per set were prescribed. Last time I attempted 6 reps per set, I was able to complete all 6 reps for first couple of sets. For the remainder of that workout, I could not complete each set without taking breaks. But per the guidelines I had to push myself for this week. I think I found a reasonable balance in the Monday workout - not resting too long and at the same time doing the 6-rep sets without stopping during the set.
The clean-and-push press workout was relatively easier. I aimed to do at least 10 total reps per arm and I achieved that. I stopped counting reps after that as I wanted to focus on good quality execution during the prescribed workout time instead of chasing reps. I think I did 13 per arm. The squat workout mostly went fine, although my hands tired enough to allow the kettlebell to flop over on one of the later sets. One thing I changed was setting up my feet wider apart, about where the feet would be if I were doing a double kettlebell front squat. I haven't been squatting with the feet this far apart for a while. I figured I'll eventually progress back to double KB front squat so might as well ge used to the foot placement since double KBs require more space between the feet for the double KB clean to set up for the squat, and then the reverse clean to park the KBs on the floor.
The Friday calisthenics workout called for 4 reps a set. I pushed for as much volume as possible, and even raised the training time an extra 5 min. I was able to do 8 sets of pullups and dips. This should help prep me for doing more sets of 6-rep sets.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Red Delta Project on lower back isolation exercise
I just watched this video posted by Matt (Red Delta Project) on his channel a few months ago.
Matt contends that the lower back is more like a joint, so saying "work the lower back" is like saying "work the knees". Just as "feeling the knees working" is a sign that something is wrong with your knees (joints), "feeling the lower back working" is not a good sign either. Matt does teach exercises that target the posterior chain, which includes the lower back, but at the same time, he also teaches that you should engage your lats, glutes, and hamstrings - so that force travels through the lower back instead of being concentrated on the lower back.
One question that often comes up is What calisthenics exercise is an alternative or replacement for the barbell deadlift?. Matt does not mention it in the video but I think the majority of the people who asked Matt about lower back isolation exercises were thinking about the barbell deadlift. The barbell deadlift is believed by quite a few people to be a lower back exercise. The muscles that actually do the heavy work in the deadlift are the glutes and the legs, with emphasis on the hamstrings although other leg muscles such as the quadriceps also contribute. What we think of as lower back muscles are the spinal erectors and transverspinalis groups - both muscle groups just work to stabilize the spine when the deadlift is done in proper form. If you mess up and try to use the spinal erectors and/or transverspinalis to lift the barbell, you'll probably injure your back - I unfortunately learned this from direct experience.
There was a time that I too wondered what calisthenics exercises might be good substitutes for the barbell deadlift. This was when I still believed in the deadlift as the best low back exercise ever invented by humankind. However I eventually realized that the deadlift is really a good dynamic exercise only for the leg and glutes - because if you attempt to use it as a dynamic exercise for your low back, you could very well destroy your lower back instantly. The deadlift is at best a decent isometric (static) exercise for the low back. Some people have a good reason to practice the deadlift. If you care more about "lower back strength" than, say, achieving a double or triple bodyweight deadlift, you probably don't need to practice the barbell deadlift
The Red Delta Project channel and other Youtube channels like Knees Over Toes Guy have videos teaching posterior chain or "lower back" exercises. But if you pay close attention, most of those exercises do not involve dynamic movement of the lower back itself, but instead have you keep the back fairly straight and have other muscles - typically the hamstrings, glutes, hips, and/or lats - do the dynamic work.
One dynamic exercise for the lower back that seems to be in fashion at the moment is the Jefferson Curl - however just about all the coaches that advocate that this exercise advise training with light weight - this is not an exercise in which you should be working towards a double bodyweight lift! In fact, just about all the advocates say you should start with no external load at all. Another dynamic exercise that has always been in fashion are side bending exercises such as the one advocated by Knees Over Toes Guy. Knees Over Toes Guy posted their latest lower back exercise video here, including the side bending:
Matt contends that the lower back is more like a joint, so saying "work the lower back" is like saying "work the knees". Just as "feeling the knees working" is a sign that something is wrong with your knees (joints), "feeling the lower back working" is not a good sign either. Matt does teach exercises that target the posterior chain, which includes the lower back, but at the same time, he also teaches that you should engage your lats, glutes, and hamstrings - so that force travels through the lower back instead of being concentrated on the lower back.
One question that often comes up is What calisthenics exercise is an alternative or replacement for the barbell deadlift?. Matt does not mention it in the video but I think the majority of the people who asked Matt about lower back isolation exercises were thinking about the barbell deadlift. The barbell deadlift is believed by quite a few people to be a lower back exercise. The muscles that actually do the heavy work in the deadlift are the glutes and the legs, with emphasis on the hamstrings although other leg muscles such as the quadriceps also contribute. What we think of as lower back muscles are the spinal erectors and transverspinalis groups - both muscle groups just work to stabilize the spine when the deadlift is done in proper form. If you mess up and try to use the spinal erectors and/or transverspinalis to lift the barbell, you'll probably injure your back - I unfortunately learned this from direct experience.
There was a time that I too wondered what calisthenics exercises might be good substitutes for the barbell deadlift. This was when I still believed in the deadlift as the best low back exercise ever invented by humankind. However I eventually realized that the deadlift is really a good dynamic exercise only for the leg and glutes - because if you attempt to use it as a dynamic exercise for your low back, you could very well destroy your lower back instantly. The deadlift is at best a decent isometric (static) exercise for the low back. Some people have a good reason to practice the deadlift. If you care more about "lower back strength" than, say, achieving a double or triple bodyweight deadlift, you probably don't need to practice the barbell deadlift
The Red Delta Project channel and other Youtube channels like Knees Over Toes Guy have videos teaching posterior chain or "lower back" exercises. But if you pay close attention, most of those exercises do not involve dynamic movement of the lower back itself, but instead have you keep the back fairly straight and have other muscles - typically the hamstrings, glutes, hips, and/or lats - do the dynamic work.
One dynamic exercise for the lower back that seems to be in fashion at the moment is the Jefferson Curl - however just about all the coaches that advocate that this exercise advise training with light weight - this is not an exercise in which you should be working towards a double bodyweight lift! In fact, just about all the advocates say you should start with no external load at all. Another dynamic exercise that has always been in fashion are side bending exercises such as the one advocated by Knees Over Toes Guy. Knees Over Toes Guy posted their latest lower back exercise video here, including the side bending:
Monday, June 17, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 3
I was able to do 5-rep sets of the calisthenic exercises without pausing before the last or 2nd to last rep. This is an improvement over the previous week.
I also noticed improvement in performance of the kettlebell exercises. Still a little slop here and there, but noticeable improvement over the previous week.
I also noticed improvement in performance of the kettlebell exercises. Still a little slop here and there, but noticeable improvement over the previous week.
Sunday, June 02, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 2
The first calisthenics day prescribed a number of reps that was very close to my 8 rep max for both pullups and ring dips. I managed to do all the reps for 3 sets for each exercise. For the last couple of sets, I was able to do 4-5 reps, then I had to pause before attempting another rep. I tried to do one more set per exercise when the timer rang, and managed to do 4 reps. I could feel that was it for the day for both exercises.
The kettlebell day prescribed clean-and-push press singles. I thought I might be able to just do singles left and right, over and over without break, for the prescribed number of minutes, but I did end up needing some rest between singles. The prescribed reps per set for squats seemed daunting for bottoms up goblet squat, but my hands were able to hold up, though the very last set required noticeable effort to keep the KB from flopping over. I tried to think of keeping my weight under the KB, which helped.
The 2nd calisthenics day prescribed 4 reps per set of pullups/dips, which was easier for me compared to the first day. I think I managed 5 sets of each exercise within the prescribed period. I didn't keep count because the idea is to do as many sets within the time period as allowed by autoregulation guidelines, rather than to go for a specific number of sets
I started doing these exercises again with the Flexbar because of intermittent elbow pain, which is sometimes manifested during guitar playing or working with the 24kg kettlebell. I'm not sure if the cause was overuse from too much guitar playing or practicing isometric drag curls with the IsoMax.
The kettlebell day prescribed clean-and-push press singles. I thought I might be able to just do singles left and right, over and over without break, for the prescribed number of minutes, but I did end up needing some rest between singles. The prescribed reps per set for squats seemed daunting for bottoms up goblet squat, but my hands were able to hold up, though the very last set required noticeable effort to keep the KB from flopping over. I tried to think of keeping my weight under the KB, which helped.
The 2nd calisthenics day prescribed 4 reps per set of pullups/dips, which was easier for me compared to the first day. I think I managed 5 sets of each exercise within the prescribed period. I didn't keep count because the idea is to do as many sets within the time period as allowed by autoregulation guidelines, rather than to go for a specific number of sets
I started doing these exercises again with the Flexbar because of intermittent elbow pain, which is sometimes manifested during guitar playing or working with the 24kg kettlebell. I'm not sure if the cause was overuse from too much guitar playing or practicing isometric drag curls with the IsoMax.
Monday, May 27, 2024
Easy Muscle: Week 1
Week 1 is now in the books.
The calsthenics day mostly went fine. I was unable to do all the prescribed reps for the last set of ring dips, so I just did a rest pause - about 15 second rest - then finished the set. I have a tendency to lean too far forward on the dip, so I've been working on not looking down so much, and turning the rings out at the bottom of the dip to engage the shoulder external rotators to help protect the shoulders. For the remainder of the week, I had DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) in the chest and anterior deltoids from the ring dips.
The 2nd kettlebell day prescribed a slightly higher number of reps per sets of Clean And Push Press. I realized that on the 1st KB day I was not really doing the Clean And Push Press - I was actually cleaning the KB once then doing reps of Push Press. Doing a clean before a push press on each and every rep ramped up the level of effort. By the end of the prescribed minutes of training, I was starting to fail with my normally stronger arm, because of accumulated fatigue, even though I was resting a generous amount of time between sets under autoregulation guidelines.
The calsthenics day mostly went fine. I was unable to do all the prescribed reps for the last set of ring dips, so I just did a rest pause - about 15 second rest - then finished the set. I have a tendency to lean too far forward on the dip, so I've been working on not looking down so much, and turning the rings out at the bottom of the dip to engage the shoulder external rotators to help protect the shoulders. For the remainder of the week, I had DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) in the chest and anterior deltoids from the ring dips.
The 2nd kettlebell day prescribed a slightly higher number of reps per sets of Clean And Push Press. I realized that on the 1st KB day I was not really doing the Clean And Push Press - I was actually cleaning the KB once then doing reps of Push Press. Doing a clean before a push press on each and every rep ramped up the level of effort. By the end of the prescribed minutes of training, I was starting to fail with my normally stronger arm, because of accumulated fatigue, even though I was resting a generous amount of time between sets under autoregulation guidelines.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Suspension Shoulder Extension
This exercise on rings or similar suspension trainer looks fun. Here Matt introduces it primarily as a hypertrophy exercise - that is, an exercise for increasing the size of shoulder and upper back muscles. He recommends the pike pushup or other overhead pressing exercise as the main exercise for this purpose, paired with the Suspension Shoulder Extension as a finisher or as a pre-exhaust.
Matt also mentions that it can be used as a mobility exercise because it stretches the lats. That caught my attention. I'm currently following Easy Muscle, which, unlike other hypertrophy programs, is not built on muscle exhaustion, but I like the idea of doing a set or 2 of suspension shoulder extensions as part of a warmup for Easy Muscle.
Matt also mentions that it can be used as a mobility exercise because it stretches the lats. That caught my attention. I'm currently following Easy Muscle, which, unlike other hypertrophy programs, is not built on muscle exhaustion, but I like the idea of doing a set or 2 of suspension shoulder extensions as part of a warmup for Easy Muscle.
Easy Muscle: Day 1
Today was the start of my latest hypertrophy training block, under the Easy Muscle Schedule B program. The exercises and training load, based on program guidelines and testing:
Clean and Push Press - 24 kg
Bottoms Up Goblet Squat - 24 kg
Pull Up - unweighted
Ring Dip - unweighted
The CPP (Clean and Push Press) practice that I did a couple of weeks ago was good preparation for this first session. I still need to keep working on driving more of the weight from the lower body. There were a couple of CPP attempts that failed because I didn't generate enough force from my lower body to help my upper body press the KB to lockout. However, I was able to complete the majority of my CPP reps on each arm.
I chose the Bottoms Up Goblet Squat because holding the KB this way lets the KB act as a counterbalance, so that the torso can lean back. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, keeping the torso fairly vertical in this way allows for greater squat depth and reduces risk to the lower back. Towards the end of the squat session, my hands began to tire and thus I started having a harder time keeping the KB from tipping over. Review of the video shows I should have squeezed the glutes and pulled up the kneecaps at the top of the movement.
Clean and Push Press - 24 kg
Bottoms Up Goblet Squat - 24 kg
Pull Up - unweighted
Ring Dip - unweighted
The CPP (Clean and Push Press) practice that I did a couple of weeks ago was good preparation for this first session. I still need to keep working on driving more of the weight from the lower body. There were a couple of CPP attempts that failed because I didn't generate enough force from my lower body to help my upper body press the KB to lockout. However, I was able to complete the majority of my CPP reps on each arm.
I chose the Bottoms Up Goblet Squat because holding the KB this way lets the KB act as a counterbalance, so that the torso can lean back. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, keeping the torso fairly vertical in this way allows for greater squat depth and reduces risk to the lower back. Towards the end of the squat session, my hands began to tire and thus I started having a harder time keeping the KB from tipping over. Review of the video shows I should have squeezed the glutes and pulled up the kneecaps at the top of the movement.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Easy Muscle Prep/Rest Week
For Monday training, I did 20 minutes of ring dips and ring pull ups with autoregulation. I did 2-3 reps per set of dips and 2 reps per set of pull ups. The main purpose here was to practice these movements, in hopes of being able to execute them competently when I start Easy Muscle next week. I then did 5 minutes of ring-assisted pistol squats.
For Tuesday training, I did 5 sets of ring dips and 5 sets of assisted pistol squats, alternating between the two exercises and resting as much as I wanted between sets. The lower part of the chest and the front deltoids accumulated quite a bit of soreness so I stopped at 5 sets.
I thought of doing some more ring dip practice on Wednesday but I still felt sore in the chest and front delts and so decided to just walk for about 20-30 min, then take the rest of the week off from training.
For Tuesday training, I did 5 sets of ring dips and 5 sets of assisted pistol squats, alternating between the two exercises and resting as much as I wanted between sets. The lower part of the chest and the front deltoids accumulated quite a bit of soreness so I stopped at 5 sets.
I thought of doing some more ring dip practice on Wednesday but I still felt sore in the chest and front delts and so decided to just walk for about 20-30 min, then take the rest of the week off from training.
Monday, May 13, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: Week 6
For the Monday session, I decided to only do the Overhead Press on the IsoMax. I was still feeling that residual soreness in the hips/groin/glute areas from Zercher Lunge training, and soreness in the abs from Drag Curl training, so I decided to take a break from both exercises. I raised the target load for the Overhead Press from 80 to 82 lbs. because I did 117 lbs. or more 2 sessions in a row.
For the Wednesday session, I tried the Zercher Lunge and decided I was done with it after 5 reps, because of how the glutes/hips were feeling. My Overhead Press performance was the best so far. I hit 134 lbs. on one of the 6 reps and 133.2 lbs. on the last rep. My weakest rep was 124 lbs. I also tried the Drag Curl and did 3 reps before deciding that was enough, because the abs were sore after just 3 reps.
Because of my Overhead Press performance, I decided to try pressing the 53 lb. (24kg) kettelbell. I was able to press the KB a little closer to half way, compared to when my overhead press was in the 115 lb. range.
For the Friday session, I decided to test my clean and push press on the 24 kg KB. My technique was rusty but I had the strength to push press the KB, compared to the first time I tried to push press it last year and simply lacked the strength to consistenly push press it all the way. I then decided to cancel my IsoMax session for the day and move on to testing my readiness for the KB focused days in Easy Muscle Schedule B. I was able to do 7 reps of Bottoms Up Goblet Squat with the 24kg KB before I lost control of the KB. While I didn't get to 10 reps before form breakdown, I felt the performance was close enough to go ahead with 24kg for this exercise. I could have tested the clean and press with the 20kg KB instead but this 20kg KB is powder coated, and I don't feel comfortable doing 15 min. of clean-and-press with the powder coated handle, as opposed to the smoother handle of the 24kg KB. I then did 10 min. of 24kg KB Clean and Push Press practice with autoregulation to practice the movement. Thus ends this IsoMax 6x6 training block.
For the Wednesday session, I tried the Zercher Lunge and decided I was done with it after 5 reps, because of how the glutes/hips were feeling. My Overhead Press performance was the best so far. I hit 134 lbs. on one of the 6 reps and 133.2 lbs. on the last rep. My weakest rep was 124 lbs. I also tried the Drag Curl and did 3 reps before deciding that was enough, because the abs were sore after just 3 reps.
Because of my Overhead Press performance, I decided to try pressing the 53 lb. (24kg) kettelbell. I was able to press the KB a little closer to half way, compared to when my overhead press was in the 115 lb. range.
For the Friday session, I decided to test my clean and push press on the 24 kg KB. My technique was rusty but I had the strength to push press the KB, compared to the first time I tried to push press it last year and simply lacked the strength to consistenly push press it all the way. I then decided to cancel my IsoMax session for the day and move on to testing my readiness for the KB focused days in Easy Muscle Schedule B. I was able to do 7 reps of Bottoms Up Goblet Squat with the 24kg KB before I lost control of the KB. While I didn't get to 10 reps before form breakdown, I felt the performance was close enough to go ahead with 24kg for this exercise. I could have tested the clean and press with the 20kg KB instead but this 20kg KB is powder coated, and I don't feel comfortable doing 15 min. of clean-and-press with the powder coated handle, as opposed to the smoother handle of the 24kg KB. I then did 10 min. of 24kg KB Clean and Push Press practice with autoregulation to practice the movement. Thus ends this IsoMax 6x6 training block.
Friday, May 10, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: Week 5
Kicked off the week with a decent workout. My abs were still feeling the effects of last week's training, especially the curls. It's the kind of soreness that you don't feel until you start applying full-body tension for isometric exercise. The glute/hip area is in a similar situation - no soreness when not doing strenuous exercise, but once I start applying full-body tension, here comes the soreness.
I recalculated my overhead press training load because I logged 115 lbs. or higher for 2 sessions in a row. Thus the new load is 80 lbs. which is 70% of 115. My max for the first rep was 102 lbs. My max for the 2nd rep was 123 lbs. Then my max force numbers dropped until my 6th and last rep which produced 128.4 lbs. I guess the way the CNS (Central Nervous System) works is it can produce the highest possible force once or twice a day, then it needs a day or two to "recharge". My guess could be totally wrong but that's how my CNS seems to work at least. Thus, just because I pressed for 128 lbs. once does not mean I will be able to press 128 lbs. again that same day. Even so I decided to test press the 24 kg kettlebell. Once again, I was able to press the KB just under half way. I think I'll wait until I press 120 lbs or higher for at least 4 reps before I try another test with the 24 kg KB, because consistent numbers at a certain force level is a probably more accurate indicator of whether I can reliably apply that same level of force to dynamic movement.
By the end of the week, I had accumulated quite a bit of soreness in my abs from doing the curls and soreness in my hip/groin area from doing the Zercher lunges. I felt this soreness intermittently rather than constantly. I decided to let my abs and lower body take a break for the Friday session and did only the overhead press. My force numbers were generally in the 115 to 117 lb. range, but hit 122 lbs. on the last rep.
I recalculated my overhead press training load because I logged 115 lbs. or higher for 2 sessions in a row. Thus the new load is 80 lbs. which is 70% of 115. My max for the first rep was 102 lbs. My max for the 2nd rep was 123 lbs. Then my max force numbers dropped until my 6th and last rep which produced 128.4 lbs. I guess the way the CNS (Central Nervous System) works is it can produce the highest possible force once or twice a day, then it needs a day or two to "recharge". My guess could be totally wrong but that's how my CNS seems to work at least. Thus, just because I pressed for 128 lbs. once does not mean I will be able to press 128 lbs. again that same day. Even so I decided to test press the 24 kg kettlebell. Once again, I was able to press the KB just under half way. I think I'll wait until I press 120 lbs or higher for at least 4 reps before I try another test with the 24 kg KB, because consistent numbers at a certain force level is a probably more accurate indicator of whether I can reliably apply that same level of force to dynamic movement.
By the end of the week, I had accumulated quite a bit of soreness in my abs from doing the curls and soreness in my hip/groin area from doing the Zercher lunges. I felt this soreness intermittently rather than constantly. I decided to let my abs and lower body take a break for the Friday session and did only the overhead press. My force numbers were generally in the 115 to 117 lb. range, but hit 122 lbs. on the last rep.
Monday, April 29, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: Week 4
For the Monday session my overhead press max was 113 lbs. That was the 2nd session in a row that my max was 113 or higher, so I treated 113 lbs. as my new 1-rep max, and increased the overhead press target load from 74 lbs. to 79 lbs, which is 70% of 113 lbs.
For the Wednesday session, my press was in the 119 to 122 lb. range, so I tested my progress on the 24 kg. kettlebell press. It might be wishful thinking but it seemed like my press got stronger. I was able to press the KB just short of 1/2 of the way up, compared to 1/3 of the way up as tested last week, when my press was in the 115 lb. range.
I was curling in the 160 lb. range or higher last week, so I decided 160 lbs. was my new 1-rep max, and thus increased my target load from 108 lbs. to 112 lbs., which is 70% of 160. Having to work harder to get the IsoMax beeping made me a bit wary of injuring my low back. My abs work so hard in this exercise, that I fear they might quit on me if I pull too hard. At any rate, my max force numbers dropped with the raise in target load, but trended up by the end of the week.
I've been wondering if I've been setting the IsoMax bar too low for the Zercher Lunge. I've been feeling my hip/glute area working the hardest in this exercise. The soreness in this area has accumulated to the point where the soreness starts on the first rep, and lasts for seemingly days on end. I haven't been feeling my quads working anywhere as hard. So for the Friday session, I raised the IsoMax by one slot. I still felt my hip/glute working hard because the position was still low, but I also felt my quad working. The force numbers were lower but the exercise felt more like a proper lunge than, say, a Bulgarian split squat.
For the Wednesday session, my press was in the 119 to 122 lb. range, so I tested my progress on the 24 kg. kettlebell press. It might be wishful thinking but it seemed like my press got stronger. I was able to press the KB just short of 1/2 of the way up, compared to 1/3 of the way up as tested last week, when my press was in the 115 lb. range.
I was curling in the 160 lb. range or higher last week, so I decided 160 lbs. was my new 1-rep max, and thus increased my target load from 108 lbs. to 112 lbs., which is 70% of 160. Having to work harder to get the IsoMax beeping made me a bit wary of injuring my low back. My abs work so hard in this exercise, that I fear they might quit on me if I pull too hard. At any rate, my max force numbers dropped with the raise in target load, but trended up by the end of the week.
I've been wondering if I've been setting the IsoMax bar too low for the Zercher Lunge. I've been feeling my hip/glute area working the hardest in this exercise. The soreness in this area has accumulated to the point where the soreness starts on the first rep, and lasts for seemingly days on end. I haven't been feeling my quads working anywhere as hard. So for the Friday session, I raised the IsoMax by one slot. I still felt my hip/glute working hard because the position was still low, but I also felt my quad working. The force numbers were lower but the exercise felt more like a proper lunge than, say, a Bulgarian split squat.
Monday, April 22, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: Week 3
For the Monday session, I raised the target load for the curl from 108 lbs. to 112 lbs. I'd been curling at around 160 lbs. or higher consistently up to last week. My initial 1-rep max in the curl was 154 lbs.. 112 lbs. is 70% of 160 lbs.
We take up strength training in hopes of, well, getting stronger. However, progression from say, lifting 75lbs to lifting 100lbs., is not linear. Progressions is more like a wave, with weaker results on some days and stronger results other days, but with an overall upward trend. I've found this to be true for the 6x6 program for isometric strength training. The Monday and Wednesday sessions produced force results that were lower than last week's. Before the Friday session, I was thinking of switching from 6x6 to Bruce Lee style, which would be doing 1 rep - instead of 6 reps - of a 6-second hold for each exercise. I wasn't sure if the drop in performance was just the usual progression I've experienced before under 6x6, which is to log peak performance on some days, but have drops in performance between those peak days... or if my body needed more recovery time. When I do Bruce Lee style, I'm only doing 1 rep per exercise instead of 6, and thus can recover much more quickly between workouts.
The Friday session resulted in the best performance of the week. I logged a max of 87.6 lbs in the Zercher Lunge, a PR for my right leg. I I logged a max of 118.8 in that drill, a PR for my left leg. I scored 115.4 lbs. in the overhead press, yet another PR. I did not achieve a PR in the curl, but I wasn't expecting one because of the raise in target load.
With the new PR in the overhead press, I just had to test my progress towards pressing the 24kg kettlebell. Where before my pressing force was just enough to move the KB up about a centimeter, today I was able to press the KB closer to the midpoint (arm and forearm at right angle). So for, that's the difference that being able to generate 9 lbs. more force makes.
This the mobility routine I've settled on for the recovery days:
I found that working on thoracic spine mobility before any lat stretch seems to loosen up the obliques and lats. The Kettlebell Arm Bar is my choice here for t-spine mobility, as well as stretching the chest. Viewing this StrongFirst video and I can see some details that I missed before. Zack Henderson has a video that walks through the movement with pretty much the same details. One detail I've tended to skip is pausing in the side lying position with the upper foot hooking on the lower leg (thigh) and the upper knee folded over, to check the stacking of the shoulders and hips. I've also skipped the step of sliding the knee up past 90 degrees of hip flexion and pausing there with a few deep breaths. I think I've been making one of the common mistakes of letting the shoulder slip forward. What should be happening instead is the shoulder stays stacked on top of the other shoulder, even if I straighten the top leg and try to bring the top hip to the ground.
The Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side, Quadraped Side Bend, and Locomotion are all from GMB's shoulder restriction article, and recommended for people whose low backs arch when reaching overhead. One detail I missed with the Quadruped Side Bend was I should be actively pressing the hand of my working side away from my torso, instead of just reaching with that hand. Actively pressing the hand makes a difference in this stretch. Another difference maker is expanding the ribs during a 4-second inhale, and thus gently increasing the stretch - in addition to stretching on the exhale. I start the Locomotion section of my mobility routine with Monkey 180 or Monkey 360, then do Twisting Bear forward and Backward Bear backward, then finish with Sumo Frogger.
My double arm overhead reach is getting better. My arms improved from about 45 degrees away from vertical to 30 degrees.
We take up strength training in hopes of, well, getting stronger. However, progression from say, lifting 75lbs to lifting 100lbs., is not linear. Progressions is more like a wave, with weaker results on some days and stronger results other days, but with an overall upward trend. I've found this to be true for the 6x6 program for isometric strength training. The Monday and Wednesday sessions produced force results that were lower than last week's. Before the Friday session, I was thinking of switching from 6x6 to Bruce Lee style, which would be doing 1 rep - instead of 6 reps - of a 6-second hold for each exercise. I wasn't sure if the drop in performance was just the usual progression I've experienced before under 6x6, which is to log peak performance on some days, but have drops in performance between those peak days... or if my body needed more recovery time. When I do Bruce Lee style, I'm only doing 1 rep per exercise instead of 6, and thus can recover much more quickly between workouts.
The Friday session resulted in the best performance of the week. I logged a max of 87.6 lbs in the Zercher Lunge, a PR for my right leg. I I logged a max of 118.8 in that drill, a PR for my left leg. I scored 115.4 lbs. in the overhead press, yet another PR. I did not achieve a PR in the curl, but I wasn't expecting one because of the raise in target load.
With the new PR in the overhead press, I just had to test my progress towards pressing the 24kg kettlebell. Where before my pressing force was just enough to move the KB up about a centimeter, today I was able to press the KB closer to the midpoint (arm and forearm at right angle). So for, that's the difference that being able to generate 9 lbs. more force makes.
This the mobility routine I've settled on for the recovery days:
- GMB Muay Thai mobility routine except for the last 2 exercises in the interest of saving some time
- Kettlebell Arm Bar
- Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side
- Quadraped Side Bend
- Locomotion
I found that working on thoracic spine mobility before any lat stretch seems to loosen up the obliques and lats. The Kettlebell Arm Bar is my choice here for t-spine mobility, as well as stretching the chest. Viewing this StrongFirst video and I can see some details that I missed before. Zack Henderson has a video that walks through the movement with pretty much the same details. One detail I've tended to skip is pausing in the side lying position with the upper foot hooking on the lower leg (thigh) and the upper knee folded over, to check the stacking of the shoulders and hips. I've also skipped the step of sliding the knee up past 90 degrees of hip flexion and pausing there with a few deep breaths. I think I've been making one of the common mistakes of letting the shoulder slip forward. What should be happening instead is the shoulder stays stacked on top of the other shoulder, even if I straighten the top leg and try to bring the top hip to the ground.
The Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side, Quadraped Side Bend, and Locomotion are all from GMB's shoulder restriction article, and recommended for people whose low backs arch when reaching overhead. One detail I missed with the Quadruped Side Bend was I should be actively pressing the hand of my working side away from my torso, instead of just reaching with that hand. Actively pressing the hand makes a difference in this stretch. Another difference maker is expanding the ribs during a 4-second inhale, and thus gently increasing the stretch - in addition to stretching on the exhale. I start the Locomotion section of my mobility routine with Monkey 180 or Monkey 360, then do Twisting Bear forward and Backward Bear backward, then finish with Sumo Frogger.
My double arm overhead reach is getting better. My arms improved from about 45 degrees away from vertical to 30 degrees.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
One-arm Pullup/Chinup Perspectives
Discussion between two accomplished calisthenics athletes on the one-arm pullup. They agree working on weighted pullups for some time before starting on assisted one-arm pullup training:
This guy shares his discoveries of the biomechanics of this movement which helped him achieve his one-arm pullup/chinup - for example, the angle of the chest to the bar. Interestingly, he too advises putting the assistance band directly under the working hand, and he also found pulleys not to be that useful.
Interesting video by Frinks who did a survey of people who achieved one-arm pullup. After Frinks and his friend collected survey data, their analysis found that those who successfully achieved a one-arm pullup were able to do weighted pullups with external load of about 75% of their bodyweight. After further research and testing, Frinks concludes that a weighted pullup with 60% bodyweight as external load is the recommended prerequisite before transitioning to one-arm pullup specific training. Among those who are still unable to perform a one-arm pullup/chinup, the highest external load they are using for weighted pullups is 90% bodyweight. The guys in the first video did not state what the external load should be before transitioning from weighted (bilateral) pullups to assisted one-arm pullups. The guy in the second video felt the external load should be 50% of bodyweight.
The One-Arm Pullup is an interesting skill I would like to achieve someday. Given my history of left elbow tendonitis, I would be content to put off the switch to assisted unilateral pullup training until the day I can do weighted pullups with external load of 75% of my bodyweight. Heck I might wait until I'm doing weighted pullups with 90% of my bodyweight. I plan to practice pullups, and eventually weighted pullups under the Easy Muscle program, because the load will generally not be high enough to be a danger to my tendons/joints. Achieving strength goals gets easier with muscle added on by a hypertrophy program like Easy Muscle. The guys in the above videos make good points regarding biomechanics and specificity of movement - the amount of strength required to achieve this skill can be diminished by learning and training the most efficient movement pattern. Still, there's no denying that possesing more strength, as measured by how much weight you can pull in weighted pullups, increases your odds of success in this skill.
In theory I might be able to speed up my progress in pullup strength by practicing overcoming isometrics with the lats in a stretched position. This could be done by wearing a dip belt, and securing a heavy kettlebell to the dip belt. The KB would have to be heavy enough to prevent me from being able to complete a full-range pullup - if my 32kg KB is not enough I'd just add another KB. Partial movement would be ok and might even be desirable because your CNS (central nervous system) allows your muscles to work harder if muscular effort produces even the slightest movement, and will put the brakes on the muscles if there is no movement at all no matter how hard the muscles work. The main thing is to pull hard and as far up as the weight will allow, and sustain the hold at that position for 6 seconds. It might be possible to rig the IsoMax bar to measure the force being applied via dip belt but it seems convoluted, plus the weight of the kettlebell(s) is already available for assessing the force being applied. So if I do my isometric pullup with a 32kg KB and manage to pull it up with me even just a few millimeters, I know I'm applying at least my bodyweight plus 32kg of force.
Then again, the lats will probably be getting some gains in strength, along with muscle mass, by just training under Easy Muscle. I might try this isometric idea with the KB the next time I do a Bruce Lee style isometric training block.
This guy shares his discoveries of the biomechanics of this movement which helped him achieve his one-arm pullup/chinup - for example, the angle of the chest to the bar. Interestingly, he too advises putting the assistance band directly under the working hand, and he also found pulleys not to be that useful.
Interesting video by Frinks who did a survey of people who achieved one-arm pullup. After Frinks and his friend collected survey data, their analysis found that those who successfully achieved a one-arm pullup were able to do weighted pullups with external load of about 75% of their bodyweight. After further research and testing, Frinks concludes that a weighted pullup with 60% bodyweight as external load is the recommended prerequisite before transitioning to one-arm pullup specific training. Among those who are still unable to perform a one-arm pullup/chinup, the highest external load they are using for weighted pullups is 90% bodyweight. The guys in the first video did not state what the external load should be before transitioning from weighted (bilateral) pullups to assisted one-arm pullups. The guy in the second video felt the external load should be 50% of bodyweight.
The One-Arm Pullup is an interesting skill I would like to achieve someday. Given my history of left elbow tendonitis, I would be content to put off the switch to assisted unilateral pullup training until the day I can do weighted pullups with external load of 75% of my bodyweight. Heck I might wait until I'm doing weighted pullups with 90% of my bodyweight. I plan to practice pullups, and eventually weighted pullups under the Easy Muscle program, because the load will generally not be high enough to be a danger to my tendons/joints. Achieving strength goals gets easier with muscle added on by a hypertrophy program like Easy Muscle. The guys in the above videos make good points regarding biomechanics and specificity of movement - the amount of strength required to achieve this skill can be diminished by learning and training the most efficient movement pattern. Still, there's no denying that possesing more strength, as measured by how much weight you can pull in weighted pullups, increases your odds of success in this skill.
In theory I might be able to speed up my progress in pullup strength by practicing overcoming isometrics with the lats in a stretched position. This could be done by wearing a dip belt, and securing a heavy kettlebell to the dip belt. The KB would have to be heavy enough to prevent me from being able to complete a full-range pullup - if my 32kg KB is not enough I'd just add another KB. Partial movement would be ok and might even be desirable because your CNS (central nervous system) allows your muscles to work harder if muscular effort produces even the slightest movement, and will put the brakes on the muscles if there is no movement at all no matter how hard the muscles work. The main thing is to pull hard and as far up as the weight will allow, and sustain the hold at that position for 6 seconds. It might be possible to rig the IsoMax bar to measure the force being applied via dip belt but it seems convoluted, plus the weight of the kettlebell(s) is already available for assessing the force being applied. So if I do my isometric pullup with a 32kg KB and manage to pull it up with me even just a few millimeters, I know I'm applying at least my bodyweight plus 32kg of force.
Then again, the lats will probably be getting some gains in strength, along with muscle mass, by just training under Easy Muscle. I might try this isometric idea with the KB the next time I do a Bruce Lee style isometric training block.
Monday, April 15, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: Week 2
Zercher Lunge performance has been good with the left leg. I finished the week with a PR of 109.6 lbs. Right leg performance did not quite match the left leg but that's ok. One or more of the glute muscles on the right side developed a soreness that persisted over more than one followup session. Another issue is by the 4th rep, I was too tired to figure out whatever body adjustments needed to be made to get the rear knee off the ground.
Overheard Press performance was also great, with max force logged in the 106-112 lb. range
Curl performance was decent. I'm holding back a little out of concern for my elbow tendonitis and low back. With all the attention paid to squeezing the glutes, working the abs hard, keeping the chest up, and initiating the pull from between the shoulder blades, rotating the shoulders out while pulling through the pinkies, risk to both issues is minimized. I don't feel any tendonitis effects immediately afterward at least. However I do start to feel the spinal erectors a bit if I let the glutes slack off. I want to make sure the abs do not give out at any point because if they do, bye by low back. The abs do work pretty hard in this exercise.
One change I made to how I do 6x6 is getting rid of the 1-rep max retest sessions. The reason to retest 1-rep max is to reset the target load. So if your 1-rep max test result is 100lbs, your target load would be 70%, or 70lbs. Later if you retest your 1-rep max, and it's now 110lbs, your new target load would be 70%, or 77lbs. Instead of giving up a regular training sessino for 1-rep max testing, I just decide when to increase my target load. So in the case of my overhead press, my initial 1-rep max was determinded by testing to be 102 lbs. AFter recording a 106lb. or higher max force for 2 sessions in a row, I decided to reset my training load to 70% of 106lbs, which is 74 lbs. I similarly raised my curl training load.
Overheard Press performance was also great, with max force logged in the 106-112 lb. range
Curl performance was decent. I'm holding back a little out of concern for my elbow tendonitis and low back. With all the attention paid to squeezing the glutes, working the abs hard, keeping the chest up, and initiating the pull from between the shoulder blades, rotating the shoulders out while pulling through the pinkies, risk to both issues is minimized. I don't feel any tendonitis effects immediately afterward at least. However I do start to feel the spinal erectors a bit if I let the glutes slack off. I want to make sure the abs do not give out at any point because if they do, bye by low back. The abs do work pretty hard in this exercise.
One change I made to how I do 6x6 is getting rid of the 1-rep max retest sessions. The reason to retest 1-rep max is to reset the target load. So if your 1-rep max test result is 100lbs, your target load would be 70%, or 70lbs. Later if you retest your 1-rep max, and it's now 110lbs, your new target load would be 70%, or 77lbs. Instead of giving up a regular training sessino for 1-rep max testing, I just decide when to increase my target load. So in the case of my overhead press, my initial 1-rep max was determinded by testing to be 102 lbs. AFter recording a 106lb. or higher max force for 2 sessions in a row, I decided to reset my training load to 70% of 106lbs, which is 74 lbs. I similarly raised my curl training load.
Monday, April 08, 2024
If I can press with 106 lbs. of isometric force, does that mean I can press a 53 lb. kettlebell?
The answer is no.
106 lbs. is roughly the weight of 2 24kg (approx. 53lbs) kettlebells. Because I've been getting close to 106 lbs. in my overhead press force during my IsoMax 6x6 sessions last week, I thought I'd take a look at my max force after every overhead press rep during today's morning 6x6 session. I hit a max force of 106lbs or higher for at least half the reps today.
So in the afternoon, I tried to press a 24kg kettlebell. I was able to press it about an inch upwards - or less... probably less. I was a bit disappointed but not surprised, because the force we can generate at the bottom of the overhead press is higher than the force we can generate at the middle position; and greater still than the force we can generate near the top (lockout) of the press. I discovered this within the first few months of training on my Isochain - my first overhead press (aka shoulder press) sessions were near the middle position, then one day I tried lowering the bar to a position close to the start of the press and was surprised to discover a significant different in pressing force.
Thus, scoring a 106lb. max force reading at bottom position just means I can press a 53lb. KB with one arm for only a short distance, which is what happened this afternoon... and it probably means my max force at the middle position is quite a bit less than 106 lbs. and thus not strong enough to press the KB to full lockout overhead. So the middle position is most likely a better position than the bottom for assessing my readiness for pressing a 53lb. KB with one arm. I set the IsoMax to Feedback mode and tried pressing as hard as I could, and it read a max force of only 68lbs. Max force reading at middle position is not a perfect assessment either, because a 16kg KB is about 35 lbs. and thus I should have - in theory - needed a 70lb. max force at middle position to press a 16kg KB. But in reality I was doing sets of 4-6 reps of 16kg KB presses while I was working through the ICT program. That's because when one is pressing a KB overhead, the KB is actually in motion at the middle position. The greater the velocity of the KB, the less force is needed to keep the KB moving. Thus I probably don't need to press with 106 lbs. of force at middle position to be able to press a 53 lb. KB - the actual required force will be less than that because the KB's velocity will not be zero at middle position, assuming I have the strength to even get it going as high as middle position. So it will be interesting to see how much max force I need to be able to generate at bottom position in order to send the KB upward at a high enough velocity so that I can press it all the way to lockout.
I'm not so concerned about the near-lockout position because current thinking in exercise science is fast concentric stimulates greater strength gains - when I get strong enough to press the KB explosively up to the middle position of the movement, it will likely have a high enough velocity at the near lockout position to require relatively lower force to keep it going all the way to lockout.
I will still do my main overhead press training at the bottom position because that is where the primary muscles (chest, triceps, anterior delts) are at their longest lengths, and as previouly mentioned, research found greatest hypertrophy and carryover to dynamic performance from isometric training with muscles at longest possible lengths. To assess readiness for pressing the 24kg KB, I'll try one overhead press rep in Feedback mode at the middle position once a week - maybe sooner if I see a sudden jump in bottom position performance.
Less disappointing results for today was performance in the Zercher Lunge with the toes of the rear foot pointing back so that the instep is touching the ground instead of the toes. Performance on the left leg dropped very slightly, while performance on the right leg, which had been lagging by as much as 15 lbs., improved to even with the left leg. I tried to keep the rear knee from touching the ground, but I don't think there's any real reason to do so, because then the exercise would be more like the bottom of a Shrimp Squat - one of the regressions for Shrimp Squat has both arms forward and the knee of the rear leg "kissing" the floor before standing back up. I'll probably experiment and see if there's any difference in force production.
106 lbs. is roughly the weight of 2 24kg (approx. 53lbs) kettlebells. Because I've been getting close to 106 lbs. in my overhead press force during my IsoMax 6x6 sessions last week, I thought I'd take a look at my max force after every overhead press rep during today's morning 6x6 session. I hit a max force of 106lbs or higher for at least half the reps today.
So in the afternoon, I tried to press a 24kg kettlebell. I was able to press it about an inch upwards - or less... probably less. I was a bit disappointed but not surprised, because the force we can generate at the bottom of the overhead press is higher than the force we can generate at the middle position; and greater still than the force we can generate near the top (lockout) of the press. I discovered this within the first few months of training on my Isochain - my first overhead press (aka shoulder press) sessions were near the middle position, then one day I tried lowering the bar to a position close to the start of the press and was surprised to discover a significant different in pressing force.
Thus, scoring a 106lb. max force reading at bottom position just means I can press a 53lb. KB with one arm for only a short distance, which is what happened this afternoon... and it probably means my max force at the middle position is quite a bit less than 106 lbs. and thus not strong enough to press the KB to full lockout overhead. So the middle position is most likely a better position than the bottom for assessing my readiness for pressing a 53lb. KB with one arm. I set the IsoMax to Feedback mode and tried pressing as hard as I could, and it read a max force of only 68lbs. Max force reading at middle position is not a perfect assessment either, because a 16kg KB is about 35 lbs. and thus I should have - in theory - needed a 70lb. max force at middle position to press a 16kg KB. But in reality I was doing sets of 4-6 reps of 16kg KB presses while I was working through the ICT program. That's because when one is pressing a KB overhead, the KB is actually in motion at the middle position. The greater the velocity of the KB, the less force is needed to keep the KB moving. Thus I probably don't need to press with 106 lbs. of force at middle position to be able to press a 53 lb. KB - the actual required force will be less than that because the KB's velocity will not be zero at middle position, assuming I have the strength to even get it going as high as middle position. So it will be interesting to see how much max force I need to be able to generate at bottom position in order to send the KB upward at a high enough velocity so that I can press it all the way to lockout.
I'm not so concerned about the near-lockout position because current thinking in exercise science is fast concentric stimulates greater strength gains - when I get strong enough to press the KB explosively up to the middle position of the movement, it will likely have a high enough velocity at the near lockout position to require relatively lower force to keep it going all the way to lockout.
I will still do my main overhead press training at the bottom position because that is where the primary muscles (chest, triceps, anterior delts) are at their longest lengths, and as previouly mentioned, research found greatest hypertrophy and carryover to dynamic performance from isometric training with muscles at longest possible lengths. To assess readiness for pressing the 24kg KB, I'll try one overhead press rep in Feedback mode at the middle position once a week - maybe sooner if I see a sudden jump in bottom position performance.
Less disappointing results for today was performance in the Zercher Lunge with the toes of the rear foot pointing back so that the instep is touching the ground instead of the toes. Performance on the left leg dropped very slightly, while performance on the right leg, which had been lagging by as much as 15 lbs., improved to even with the left leg. I tried to keep the rear knee from touching the ground, but I don't think there's any real reason to do so, because then the exercise would be more like the bottom of a Shrimp Squat - one of the regressions for Shrimp Squat has both arms forward and the knee of the rear leg "kissing" the floor before standing back up. I'll probably experiment and see if there's any difference in force production.
IsoMax 6x6: Week 1
After 12 weeks of tossing a kettlebell for conditioning, it's been nice to change to isometric strength training with the IsoMax under the 6x6 program. Just apply as much force as possible for a few seconds, and repeat a few times per exercise, and finish the workout feeling energized rather than wiped out.
My disappointing ring dip test made me think about what I need to do to regain my previous skill with that exercise. So I decided to warm up with knee raises and reverse shrugs on the rings. I got the idea from Red Delta Project's video on how to achieve your first ring dip or improve your ring dip performance. These are the same exercises I practiced last year to regain the ring dip skill. This time though I'm not doing ring pushups because I'm already doing the isometric overhead press as part of this 6x6 training block.
In any case, I want to do Easy Muscle Schedule B for my next training block. Easy Muscle requires testing for repetition maxes in each of the scheduled exercises. The dip is one of the Schedule B exercises. In the case of the dip, rep max testing will determine whether or not the dip will be done with only bodyweight, or with a dip belt with added wieght, and if so how much added weight. I wouldn't mind doing Easy Muscle with bodyweight-only dips but I want to make sure my rep max test is not impacted by poor stability on the rings. Practicing knee raises and reverse shrugs on rings as part of my warmups for 6x6 should ensure my dip rep max won't be affected by stability issues on the rings.
I had forgotten how demanding 6 seconds of high effort in the Zercher Lunge position can be. I was sweating by the 3rd rep. Since I hadn't practiced training in this position for a while, I struggled a bit with balance and alignment. Adding extra challenge is the pressure on the toes of the back foot. Every video I've seen of the Zercher Lunge shows rear foot dorsiflexion (toes bending towards shin). I cannot find a reason to justify dorsiflexion of the back foot while practicing isometric Zercher Lunge. Thus I'm thinking of pointing the toes of the back foot to the rear, which would be much more comfortable for that back foot. Then pressure on the back toes would be one less thing to worry about - freeing my mind to focus more on keeping the chest up, squaring the hips, and maintaining balance.
My performance in the overhead press is in the 102 lb. range which is close to the goal of 106 lbs. This is about the weight of double 24kg kettlebells. On the day that I press at least 106 lbs. I will try to press a 24kg KB. It will be interesting to see if a 106 lb. press at the lowest possible position of the overhead press means I can dynamically press half that weight overhead with one arm.
My curl perfomance is in the 170lb. range. The high amount of force is probably the result of combining forces from the upper back, abs, and biceps. I feel the abs working harder than before. It will interesting to see if any increase in curl force will correlate with an increase in pullup rep max.
My disappointing ring dip test made me think about what I need to do to regain my previous skill with that exercise. So I decided to warm up with knee raises and reverse shrugs on the rings. I got the idea from Red Delta Project's video on how to achieve your first ring dip or improve your ring dip performance. These are the same exercises I practiced last year to regain the ring dip skill. This time though I'm not doing ring pushups because I'm already doing the isometric overhead press as part of this 6x6 training block.
In any case, I want to do Easy Muscle Schedule B for my next training block. Easy Muscle requires testing for repetition maxes in each of the scheduled exercises. The dip is one of the Schedule B exercises. In the case of the dip, rep max testing will determine whether or not the dip will be done with only bodyweight, or with a dip belt with added wieght, and if so how much added weight. I wouldn't mind doing Easy Muscle with bodyweight-only dips but I want to make sure my rep max test is not impacted by poor stability on the rings. Practicing knee raises and reverse shrugs on rings as part of my warmups for 6x6 should ensure my dip rep max won't be affected by stability issues on the rings.
I had forgotten how demanding 6 seconds of high effort in the Zercher Lunge position can be. I was sweating by the 3rd rep. Since I hadn't practiced training in this position for a while, I struggled a bit with balance and alignment. Adding extra challenge is the pressure on the toes of the back foot. Every video I've seen of the Zercher Lunge shows rear foot dorsiflexion (toes bending towards shin). I cannot find a reason to justify dorsiflexion of the back foot while practicing isometric Zercher Lunge. Thus I'm thinking of pointing the toes of the back foot to the rear, which would be much more comfortable for that back foot. Then pressure on the back toes would be one less thing to worry about - freeing my mind to focus more on keeping the chest up, squaring the hips, and maintaining balance.
My performance in the overhead press is in the 102 lb. range which is close to the goal of 106 lbs. This is about the weight of double 24kg kettlebells. On the day that I press at least 106 lbs. I will try to press a 24kg KB. It will be interesting to see if a 106 lb. press at the lowest possible position of the overhead press means I can dynamically press half that weight overhead with one arm.
My curl perfomance is in the 170lb. range. The high amount of force is probably the result of combining forces from the upper back, abs, and biceps. I feel the abs working harder than before. It will interesting to see if any increase in curl force will correlate with an increase in pullup rep max.
Friday, April 05, 2024
IsoMax 6x6: 1-Rep Max Testing
After 12 weeks of dynamic exercise for conditioning, fat-burning, and strength, I decided it was time for an isometric training block to give my joints a break. I chose the 6x6 program for strength, some hypertrophy, and hopefully tendon strength. Chrys Johnson has a good video explaining the what, why, etc. of 6x6.
1-Rep Max Test Results in Pounds:
Zercher Lunge - 80.4 (based on weaker leg scores)
Overhead Press - 103.4
Curl - 154.7
The plan is to do each exercise with the target muscles at the longest possible lengths, as inspired by recently published research that found greater carryover to dynamic performance, compared to isometric training at shorter muscle lengths. Thus the IsoMax strap numbers and body positions for the 3 exercises are:
Zercher Lunge - Strap #6 - I copied what Red Delta Project does in this video, except I don't use a weight vest, and the bar is set lower, to get my body as close as possible to the bottom of an ATG split squat, while still being able to get under the IsoMax bar. The quads and calf muscles are at a pretty good length
Overhead Press - Strap #20 - This is very close to the start position of the double kettlebell press. The triceps, anterior delts, and chest muscles are at a good stretch.
Curl - Strap #9 - The IsoMax bar is as low as possible, so it practically rests on the thighs. Thus the arms are close to straight, so that the biceps are at a pretty good length. To prevent any flareup of elbow tendonitis, I use the spiraling external rotation technique taught in this video. To protect the back, I imagine my chest being pulled up, and squeeze the glutes nice and hard, before I even begin pulling the bar. Finally to ensure bicep activation, I pull my elbows back. The combination of the external rotation technique, hard-working core (abs, glutes, etc.), and stretched biceps results in a 150-ish lb. force output, compared to when I first tried a bicep curl on the Isochain in late 2020 and was struggling to generate 30lbs. of force. People who prefer to isolate the biceps more in their training might consider what I'm doing to be cheating, but since I no longer feel isometric rowing is safe for my low back, this curl variation is all I have left for working on pulling strength, with as much force as possible. My pullup rep max is currently 8. It will be interesting to see if the rep max goes up after a couple of weeks of training with this isometric curl variation. In theory there should be an increase, because I use the same muscles (abs, external rotators, upper back, biceps) - especially in the upper half of the pullup - and the same spiraling external rotation technique when I do pullups. Presumably there will be some sort of relationship between any increase in max force in this curl, and repetition max - but data gathering will have to come later.
1-Rep Max Test Results in Pounds:
Zercher Lunge - 80.4 (based on weaker leg scores)
Overhead Press - 103.4
Curl - 154.7
The plan is to do each exercise with the target muscles at the longest possible lengths, as inspired by recently published research that found greater carryover to dynamic performance, compared to isometric training at shorter muscle lengths. Thus the IsoMax strap numbers and body positions for the 3 exercises are:
Zercher Lunge - Strap #6 - I copied what Red Delta Project does in this video, except I don't use a weight vest, and the bar is set lower, to get my body as close as possible to the bottom of an ATG split squat, while still being able to get under the IsoMax bar. The quads and calf muscles are at a pretty good length
Overhead Press - Strap #20 - This is very close to the start position of the double kettlebell press. The triceps, anterior delts, and chest muscles are at a good stretch.
Curl - Strap #9 - The IsoMax bar is as low as possible, so it practically rests on the thighs. Thus the arms are close to straight, so that the biceps are at a pretty good length. To prevent any flareup of elbow tendonitis, I use the spiraling external rotation technique taught in this video. To protect the back, I imagine my chest being pulled up, and squeeze the glutes nice and hard, before I even begin pulling the bar. Finally to ensure bicep activation, I pull my elbows back. The combination of the external rotation technique, hard-working core (abs, glutes, etc.), and stretched biceps results in a 150-ish lb. force output, compared to when I first tried a bicep curl on the Isochain in late 2020 and was struggling to generate 30lbs. of force. People who prefer to isolate the biceps more in their training might consider what I'm doing to be cheating, but since I no longer feel isometric rowing is safe for my low back, this curl variation is all I have left for working on pulling strength, with as much force as possible. My pullup rep max is currently 8. It will be interesting to see if the rep max goes up after a couple of weeks of training with this isometric curl variation. In theory there should be an increase, because I use the same muscles (abs, external rotators, upper back, biceps) - especially in the upper half of the pullup - and the same spiraling external rotation technique when I do pullups. Presumably there will be some sort of relationship between any increase in max force in this curl, and repetition max - but data gathering will have to come later.
Monday, April 01, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: End of Program and Results
Completed Week 12, which is the final week of Kettlebell ICT, without incident. This program is based on research on Integrated Concurrent Training (ICT), which is also referred to as Integrated Concurrent Exercise. One of the findings is that ICT was found to burn body fat, especially stomach fat, without dieting. Thus as part of my test of this program, I did not make any special changes to my diet. My dietary habits haven't been perfectly clean, but I haven't been going overboard on unhealthy foods either.
Before I started Kettlebell ICT, my body was in good health. However, it had just recovered from a back injury so to be safe, I chose weights for the snatch, goblet squat, and row that were relatively light.
Results:
Bodyweight: approx. 5 lb. loss.
Arms: approx. quarter inch diameter gain
Waist (at navel): approx. 3/4" loss
Overhead Press: approx. 15lb. gain in max force
The objectives of the Kettlebell ICT program are to reduce bodyfat while maintaining or even increasing strength. The results show that both objectives were accomplished. I believe I can interpret the loss in bodyweight combined with reduction in waist diameter as signs of fat loss. Pants now feel more loose at the waist. I figured there would be some gain in pressing strength but I didn't expect this much.
I had read that high volume KB snatches could improve pullup performance. This program did require me to do lots of KB snatches, so a couple of days after finishing the program, I did a set of pullups and found my repetition max to be 8, which was about the same as it was before I started the program. I was snatching a 12kg KB for more than half the program. Perhaps I need to snatch a heavier KB for the same amount of work to improve my pullup rep max. In any case, increasing one's rep max in the pullup was not an objective of this program.
I also tried a set of ring dips to see if there was any change in performance. I did 2 reps before I started losing control of a ring. The ring dip is just one of those exercises that require good technique. I don't do ring dips for 3 months, I get rusty at them and need to retrain my body to stabilize on the rings and execute properly. Successful execution of a ring dip depends not only on strength but also proper coordination to smoothly lower oneself down and push back up, while maintaining stability on the rings. Oh well, increasing rep max in ring dips was not a program objective either.
I would consider training under this program again in the future. I was satisfied with the amount of bodyfat that I lost but I think I could burn more if I worked with weights determined by proper testing under the program guidelines - eg. 10-rep max for goblet squat, 20-rep max for snatch, etc. instead of holding back a bit out of fear of reinjuring the low back. It was gratifying to find that I gained strength and maybe even a little muscle as well.
Before I started Kettlebell ICT, my body was in good health. However, it had just recovered from a back injury so to be safe, I chose weights for the snatch, goblet squat, and row that were relatively light.
Results:
Bodyweight: approx. 5 lb. loss.
Arms: approx. quarter inch diameter gain
Waist (at navel): approx. 3/4" loss
Overhead Press: approx. 15lb. gain in max force
The objectives of the Kettlebell ICT program are to reduce bodyfat while maintaining or even increasing strength. The results show that both objectives were accomplished. I believe I can interpret the loss in bodyweight combined with reduction in waist diameter as signs of fat loss. Pants now feel more loose at the waist. I figured there would be some gain in pressing strength but I didn't expect this much.
I had read that high volume KB snatches could improve pullup performance. This program did require me to do lots of KB snatches, so a couple of days after finishing the program, I did a set of pullups and found my repetition max to be 8, which was about the same as it was before I started the program. I was snatching a 12kg KB for more than half the program. Perhaps I need to snatch a heavier KB for the same amount of work to improve my pullup rep max. In any case, increasing one's rep max in the pullup was not an objective of this program.
I also tried a set of ring dips to see if there was any change in performance. I did 2 reps before I started losing control of a ring. The ring dip is just one of those exercises that require good technique. I don't do ring dips for 3 months, I get rusty at them and need to retrain my body to stabilize on the rings and execute properly. Successful execution of a ring dip depends not only on strength but also proper coordination to smoothly lower oneself down and push back up, while maintaining stability on the rings. Oh well, increasing rep max in ring dips was not a program objective either.
I would consider training under this program again in the future. I was satisfied with the amount of bodyfat that I lost but I think I could burn more if I worked with weights determined by proper testing under the program guidelines - eg. 10-rep max for goblet squat, 20-rep max for snatch, etc. instead of holding back a bit out of fear of reinjuring the low back. It was gratifying to find that I gained strength and maybe even a little muscle as well.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 11
My conditioning improved enough to let me do the presses immediately after the snatches, without taking a rest pause, for the first two supersets of my Session A workouts. I still needed to take rest pauses for the rest of that segment.
I'd been hanging from a pullup bar as part of my recovery routine with pronated grip. This week, I saw a video in which the coach recommended slow eccentric chinups (supinated grip) as part of his suggested routine for improving mobility for overhead press. I was still feeling a bit beat from the workout so instead of doing eccentric chinups I thought I'd try just hanging with a supinated grip. This has been an uncomfortable position for my shoulders in the past, but this time I felt fine. I don't know if the improved feeling in my shoulders has been the result of ICT itself, or the drills I've been doing to warm up for ICT and to recover from it - drills like KB arm bar, various t-spine mobility drills, etc.
Otherwise the weights were the same as last week. One more week to go!
I'd been hanging from a pullup bar as part of my recovery routine with pronated grip. This week, I saw a video in which the coach recommended slow eccentric chinups (supinated grip) as part of his suggested routine for improving mobility for overhead press. I was still feeling a bit beat from the workout so instead of doing eccentric chinups I thought I'd try just hanging with a supinated grip. This has been an uncomfortable position for my shoulders in the past, but this time I felt fine. I don't know if the improved feeling in my shoulders has been the result of ICT itself, or the drills I've been doing to warm up for ICT and to recover from it - drills like KB arm bar, various t-spine mobility drills, etc.
Otherwise the weights were the same as last week. One more week to go!
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 10
Weights used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
Focused more on leg drive in the Push Press. I'd been doing this exercise as more of a leg-assisted press, which I guess is ok, but I thought dialing up the leg drive would dial up the conditioning aspect. This did result in me breathing harder after each set, though snatch sets still feel harder.
One of the days after a Session B workout, I had unusual tightness in the side of a knee when I started a walk around the neighborhood. This was fixed by stretching in the bottom of an ATG split squat - just great all-around mobility drill for solving knee, hip, and ankle tighntess.
Bloopers included starting a Session B workout then realizing I forgot to bring up the 20kg KB for the squats... and doing extra sets of strict press in a Session A workout after the 5 min. break before realizing I was supposed to be squatting. At least I didn't hurt myself.
Bodyweight holding steady at 154 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
Focused more on leg drive in the Push Press. I'd been doing this exercise as more of a leg-assisted press, which I guess is ok, but I thought dialing up the leg drive would dial up the conditioning aspect. This did result in me breathing harder after each set, though snatch sets still feel harder.
One of the days after a Session B workout, I had unusual tightness in the side of a knee when I started a walk around the neighborhood. This was fixed by stretching in the bottom of an ATG split squat - just great all-around mobility drill for solving knee, hip, and ankle tighntess.
Bloopers included starting a Session B workout then realizing I forgot to bring up the 20kg KB for the squats... and doing extra sets of strict press in a Session A workout after the 5 min. break before realizing I was supposed to be squatting. At least I didn't hurt myself.
Bodyweight holding steady at 154 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Saturday, March 09, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 9
Weights used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
For each Snatch rep. I held the KB overhead for about 2 seconds before bringing the KB down to finish the rep. I felt that was what I had to do to get through a 60-second set. Presses immediately after the snatches were fine with the opposite arm, but I could only manage 4 reps on the same side arm before I had to take a rest pause.
Session B also got harder with the raise in conditioning set time and strength set reps, but not as demanding as Session A.
Bodyweight is 154 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
For each Snatch rep. I held the KB overhead for about 2 seconds before bringing the KB down to finish the rep. I felt that was what I had to do to get through a 60-second set. Presses immediately after the snatches were fine with the opposite arm, but I could only manage 4 reps on the same side arm before I had to take a rest pause.
Session B also got harder with the raise in conditioning set time and strength set reps, but not as demanding as Session A.
Bodyweight is 154 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Saturday, March 02, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 8
Weights used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
The Session A workout felt just as tough this week as it did last week when I increased the snatch weight
I felt more of a conditioning improvement in the Session B workouts. I was able to do 5 push press sets per arm, which was made possible by consistently resting less than 2 minutes between supersets.
Bodyweight is 152 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
The Session A workout felt just as tough this week as it did last week when I increased the snatch weight
I felt more of a conditioning improvement in the Session B workouts. I was able to do 5 push press sets per arm, which was made possible by consistently resting less than 2 minutes between supersets.
Bodyweight is 152 lbs, down from a pre-ICT weight of 161lbs.
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 7
Weights used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I've continued practicing the bottom's up variation of the goblet squat, as the squatting movement of choice for this ICT program. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, holding the kettlebell bottom's up allows the torso to lean slightly back. This helps prevent the torso from flexing forward, which is pretty bad for my injury-prone back.
For this week I increased the goblet squat weight from 16kg to 20kg. This made me feel like I was working a little harder in my goblet squat sets. I could probably increase the load again but I don't want to add risk to my lower back.
The other weight increase this week was a 12kg to 16kg change in load for the KB snatch. The 12kg KB was starting to feel a little light. Still, the 4kg change in load made Session A workouts wore me out more quickly. My execution got sloppier in the last couple of sets of the workout. However I never felt in danger of losing control of the KB or my balance.
I bought a $7 kitchen timer. I had been using the Clock app on mya= smartphone to time my conditioning sets. My issue with using the app was that I occasionially set the timer without tapping the onscreen button to start the timer. The physical buttons on the cheap kitchen timer feel more reassuring than the phone's touchscreen. I can feel the start button get pressed on the kitchen timer, which eliminates the distraction of wondering if I actually started the timer as I'm practicing snatches or push presses.
Session A
A1 Snatch 16kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 20g
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I've continued practicing the bottom's up variation of the goblet squat, as the squatting movement of choice for this ICT program. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, holding the kettlebell bottom's up allows the torso to lean slightly back. This helps prevent the torso from flexing forward, which is pretty bad for my injury-prone back.
For this week I increased the goblet squat weight from 16kg to 20kg. This made me feel like I was working a little harder in my goblet squat sets. I could probably increase the load again but I don't want to add risk to my lower back.
The other weight increase this week was a 12kg to 16kg change in load for the KB snatch. The 12kg KB was starting to feel a little light. Still, the 4kg change in load made Session A workouts wore me out more quickly. My execution got sloppier in the last couple of sets of the workout. However I never felt in danger of losing control of the KB or my balance.
I bought a $7 kitchen timer. I had been using the Clock app on mya= smartphone to time my conditioning sets. My issue with using the app was that I occasionially set the timer without tapping the onscreen button to start the timer. The physical buttons on the cheap kitchen timer feel more reassuring than the phone's touchscreen. I can feel the start button get pressed on the kitchen timer, which eliminates the distraction of wondering if I actually started the timer as I'm practicing snatches or push presses.
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 6 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
When I started ICT, I tried dead hangs as part of my post-workout recovery. My body felt fine during the hang, but afterwards, I felt an onset of upper back soreness that was unusually intense. This happened after my Session A workouts, which are done in the mornings. I think the snatch practice had something to do with it. This week, I tried dead hangs in the afternoon instead of immediately after the morning workout. This time there was no surprise unpleasant soreness.
Bodyweight is about 156 lbs, down from the pre-ICT weight of about 161 lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
When I started ICT, I tried dead hangs as part of my post-workout recovery. My body felt fine during the hang, but afterwards, I felt an onset of upper back soreness that was unusually intense. This happened after my Session A workouts, which are done in the mornings. I think the snatch practice had something to do with it. This week, I tried dead hangs in the afternoon instead of immediately after the morning workout. This time there was no surprise unpleasant soreness.
Bodyweight is about 156 lbs, down from the pre-ICT weight of about 161 lbs.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 5
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I expected the workouts to get harder with the increase in conditioning set time and strength set reps, and I was not disappointed. However, as long as I believed that I set the timer properly, I was able to get through the sets without feeling like I was running out of gas on every set. It was when I doubted that I had set the timer that I start to feel gassed.
Callouses from all this snatch practice are starting to peel. Time to use the pumice stone.
Bodyweight is about 157 lbs. Starting weight was about 161 lbs.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I expected the workouts to get harder with the increase in conditioning set time and strength set reps, and I was not disappointed. However, as long as I believed that I set the timer properly, I was able to get through the sets without feeling like I was running out of gas on every set. It was when I doubted that I had set the timer that I start to feel gassed.
Callouses from all this snatch practice are starting to peel. Time to use the pumice stone.
Bodyweight is about 157 lbs. Starting weight was about 161 lbs.
Friday, February 02, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 4 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used - same as last week:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
My conditioning continued to improve. During the last session of the week (Session B), I did not have to rest for the maximum 2 minutes. Under autoregulation guidelines I was often ready to go with 35-45 seconds still left on the timer.
For Weeks 1-3 I set the timer to 33 seconds - the extra seconds to account for set up time - counted how many reps I did until the timer rang, then did the same number of reps for every set of the conditioning exercise for the rest of the workout. I just didn't feel like changing the timer back and forth between the conditioning time and the maximum rest time.
For this week, I used the timer on all conditioning sets. This allowed me to focus more on the pacing and quality of movement. I tended to rush more when I was counting reps.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
My conditioning continued to improve. During the last session of the week (Session B), I did not have to rest for the maximum 2 minutes. Under autoregulation guidelines I was often ready to go with 35-45 seconds still left on the timer.
For Weeks 1-3 I set the timer to 33 seconds - the extra seconds to account for set up time - counted how many reps I did until the timer rang, then did the same number of reps for every set of the conditioning exercise for the rest of the workout. I just didn't feel like changing the timer back and forth between the conditioning time and the maximum rest time.
For this week, I used the timer on all conditioning sets. This allowed me to focus more on the pacing and quality of movement. I tended to rush more when I was counting reps.
Friday, January 26, 2024
Kettlebell ICT: Week 3 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I increased the weight to 16kg for the goblet squat and supported row. I felt more confident that my low back could handle this load for those exercises.
Compared to last week I did not always need to rest for the maximum 2 minutes between the paired A1-A2 sets. At times, I was ready to go with 5-30 seconds left on the timer I'd set to 2 minutes.
I added the following to my recovery day routine:
Tall Kneeling Arm Raises To Side - 60 seconds per side
Quadruped Sidebending - 60 seconds per side
Monkey 180/360 - 2 to 4 minutes.
These are from GMB's article on fixing shoulder restrictions: https://gmb.io/shoulder-fixes/. They are recommended for addressing my main shoulder restriction, which is the back arch when reaching overhead. While checking out the Monkey 180/360, I found that GMB recommends the 3-point Bridge so I also added that to my routine.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 16kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 16kg
I increased the weight to 16kg for the goblet squat and supported row. I felt more confident that my low back could handle this load for those exercises.
Compared to last week I did not always need to rest for the maximum 2 minutes between the paired A1-A2 sets. At times, I was ready to go with 5-30 seconds left on the timer I'd set to 2 minutes.
I added the following to my recovery day routine:
Tall Kneeling Arm Raises To Side - 60 seconds per side
Quadruped Sidebending - 60 seconds per side
Monkey 180/360 - 2 to 4 minutes.
These are from GMB's article on fixing shoulder restrictions: https://gmb.io/shoulder-fixes/. They are recommended for addressing my main shoulder restriction, which is the back arch when reaching overhead. While checking out the Monkey 180/360, I found that GMB recommends the 3-point Bridge so I also added that to my routine.
Friday, January 19, 2024
Kettlebell Arm Bar
This is the exercise that I was doing when I suffered my first shoulder injury. Trainees have always been advised to work with a relatively kettlebell for safety. I foolishly chose a relatively heavy kettlebell instead. The consequence of that choice was that I lost control of the KB while practicing the exercise and dropped the KB, which in turn injured the shoulder.
I was trying out the KB Arm Bar in the first place because practicing it is supposed to improve shoulder mobility and stability. The KB Arm Bar also improves t-spine mobility and lat strength, and fine tunes your overhead mechanics for presses, Turkish Getup, etc.
I did not attempt this exercise again until this week. I just never thought of buying a KB light enough to allow me to practice the KB Arm Bar with less fear of re-injuring the shoulder.
Zack Henderson recommends including the KB Arm Bar as part of one's upper body warm up, holding 45-60 seconds per side for 1-2 sets.
The lightest KB I have is 8kg. It is enough weight to challenge me to maintain the vertical position of the working arm, while working into the stretch. Some time may pass before I feel confident to try this exercise with a heavier KB.
I was trying out the KB Arm Bar in the first place because practicing it is supposed to improve shoulder mobility and stability. The KB Arm Bar also improves t-spine mobility and lat strength, and fine tunes your overhead mechanics for presses, Turkish Getup, etc.
I did not attempt this exercise again until this week. I just never thought of buying a KB light enough to allow me to practice the KB Arm Bar with less fear of re-injuring the shoulder.
Zack Henderson recommends including the KB Arm Bar as part of one's upper body warm up, holding 45-60 seconds per side for 1-2 sets.
The lightest KB I have is 8kg. It is enough weight to challenge me to maintain the vertical position of the working arm, while working into the stretch. Some time may pass before I feel confident to try this exercise with a heavier KB.
Kettlebell ICT Week 2 Completed
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 12kg
I rested the full 2 minutes between segments. No new issues introduced for the low back or shoulders. Between sessions, I practiced the exercises which are recommended in Kettlebell Strong! for improving mobility for reaching overhead.
Session A
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
Session B
A1 Push Press 16kg
A2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
B1 Push Press 16kg
B2 Supported Row 12kg
I rested the full 2 minutes between segments. No new issues introduced for the low back or shoulders. Between sessions, I practiced the exercises which are recommended in Kettlebell Strong! for improving mobility for reaching overhead.
Tuesday, January 09, 2024
Kettlebell ICT Week 1 Session 1
Today I started an experimental program called Kettlebell ICT. The goals of the program are fat loss and strength gain. The program is experimental because there are no documented, pre-existing results from anyone completing the program.
I suffered a low back injury this past August while attempting an isometric seated row. My back has recovered enough that I don't fear a back spasm from something as mundane as putting on my shoes while seated, straining while sitting on the toilet, etc. However, experience has taught me to be conservative with my loading choices for the posterior chain when beginning a new exercise program, hence the choice of relatively light weight for the Snatch and Bottoms Up Goblet Squat.
This program will be a good experiment for me. I wasn't able to do much lower body training during the couple of months spent recovering from the low back injury. Then I went on a 2-week vacation for the holidays, eating a lot. This resulted in bodyfat gains, and some loss of strength.
This first session went fine, except when I attempted to press with my left arm, immediately after snatching with my left arm. Simply beginning the press set with the opposite arm after the snatch set seemed to fix the issue.
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
I suffered a low back injury this past August while attempting an isometric seated row. My back has recovered enough that I don't fear a back spasm from something as mundane as putting on my shoes while seated, straining while sitting on the toilet, etc. However, experience has taught me to be conservative with my loading choices for the posterior chain when beginning a new exercise program, hence the choice of relatively light weight for the Snatch and Bottoms Up Goblet Squat.
This program will be a good experiment for me. I wasn't able to do much lower body training during the couple of months spent recovering from the low back injury. Then I went on a 2-week vacation for the holidays, eating a lot. This resulted in bodyfat gains, and some loss of strength.
This first session went fine, except when I attempted to press with my left arm, immediately after snatching with my left arm. Simply beginning the press set with the opposite arm after the snatch set seemed to fix the issue.
These are the kettlebell weights I used:
A1 Snatch 12kg
A2 Press 16kg
B1 Snatch 12kg
B2 Bottoms Up Goblet Squat 12kg
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